Crimson Incandescence
by CrazeStasis
Summary: One desires vengeance against the one who killed her father? Another is lost and confused, simply wishing to find her way back home. So when fate conspires to bring them together-will Ryuko Matoi and Ruby Rose be able to stand against the totalitarian rule of Satsuki Kiryuin! Rated T for language-may change in the future.
1. Chapter 1: This Will Be the Day

**NOTE: I do not own either RWBY or Kill la Kill. RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth, and Kill la Kill belongs to studio TRIGGER…**

* * *

The way up to the academy was tiresome to most people. Most who reached the top were breathing heavily, trying to catch some air in their lungs. Some, of course, didn't show such exhaustion, but they had...reasons for why.

These were the unlucky ones: the ones that couldn't catch the tram in time before they missed it or-as was more likely-before it was full to the brim with students. These were the ones that struggled everyday to reach their classes in time. Some woke early, others ran up, and a few even used some more questionable methods to beat the clock.

This happened everyday, because they knew. They all knew that if they didn't get to class before the time was up even a little _too_ frequently. They would never be coming back to class ever again...even if certain "accidents" did happen on the way up…

However, today something was rather...off about the throng of students walking through the gate that day. It wasn't that they seemed agitated, furious, or rebellious-that would end up receiving some _very_ painful retribution. It wasn't depression or fear either, the students of the academy had long gotten used to the fact that "certain" things happened within the school walls that should never be said outside of them...

...No, it came from one small point in the crowd: a single girl to be specific. In terms of physical appearance, she had pale skin, silver eyes, and black hair that turned a shade of red as it fell down just slightly past her jawline. In conjunction, she also didn't wear the school uniform nearly all the others were wearing, instead having on a gothic-styled outfit-completely black, with red trimming-similarly colored boots, a belt around her waist with a metal buckle that gave the appearance of a rose. And, most notably, a large, red cloak wrapped around her neck and shoulders.

Her name was Ruby Rose...and she honestly had no idea how she had gotten here just a day ago.

She would've been at Beacon Academy, getting some much needed rest after the Grimm attack in the middle of the city, or even doing some homework if she could. Instead, she had woken up in the middle of a shoddy alleyway down in the shantytown yesterday, with no recollection of the night before.

She had ended up coming here, wondering where in Remnant she was. But discovered two things…

...She was not in Remnant anymore…

...and that she was going to become a student at this place.

Back then, she would've been confused, scared, and even a little angry or frustrated, but she was simply tired. So here she was, standing in the middle of the crowd...with her eyes focused on what hanged above the gate today in shock.

It was a boy-most likely a student-with large curly hair. His naked body, somewhat unfit and stocky, was covered in bruises and cuts from head to toe. Wrapped around his neck by simple rope was a wooden sign with black, alien lettering.

Though she had never seen such lettering before, her mind could still decipher it into a specific line: "This is a naked pig who dared to defy Honnoji Academy. As such, justice was dealt."

She wanted to go home the moment she saw that. But, considering the circumstances she was in, Home technically didn't exist anymore. Shaken, she swallowed and took her first steps into Honnoji Academy…

...Into her new school...and new home...right?

* * *

 **Crimson Incandescence.**

* * *

She walked into the classroom, and as soon as she did, she felt the eyes of every student in the class shoot over to her.

She swallowed. She knew the reason was because she wasn't wearing a uniform, but what could she do, she didn't think that they would give her one right away! She couldn't help it if she didn't have anything remotely proper to wear! Her head clunked onto the desk as soon as she sat in it, only having her hearing to tell her what was happening around her.

"Is that a new girl?"

"Is she stupid or something?

"-Will she be alright by the end of the day?"

"I feel bad for her…"

"I'll be leaving early, that's for sure."

The whispers echoed throughout her mind. That body at the front gate...is that what they meant? Would she be beaten and killed and left to hang for everyone in school to see as soon as they walked under the front door? The thought sent a shiver down her spine...she didn't want to end up like that, she wanted to go back home-where her sister and friends were at.

But now...this was home...at least as far as she knew…

As her thoughts went on, she heard the door slide open. Though she didn't raise her head up to see who it was, the distinct voice of a middle aged man caught her attention and she looked up. Standing at the front of the class was a man with blue hair, a stubble, unremarkable clothing, and...were those aviator sunglasses? She almost would've kept looking-wondering why a teacher would want sunglasses on in a barely lit class like this-when her eyes shifted to the girl right next to him.

Her eyes were blue, with a strange gear-like shape surrounding the pupil. They went well with her hair, which was a simple black hair color, and had a red highlight sweeping around her bangs. Her clothes consisted of a black and white jacket over a white button-up shirt with a red ribbon around the neck, a miniskirt like the rest if darker in color, and white sneakers. Finally, on her back was a large white case...which made her curious at its sight. What exactly did it hold inside?

The expression on her face pretty much stated that she could care less about being in class, and would rather be somewhere else. However, as Ruby could notice instantly, the girl was beginning to stare at her like the rest of the class earlier-a look of curiosity on her face.

The teacher turned to the chalkboard and started to write down in the strange lettering she saw from...from...you know what, let's just forget about that. He finished writing and turned back to the students as he moved out of the way for everyone to read. She quickly looked through the lettering and caught two names: Ryuko Matoi and...Ruby Rose?

 _Me?_

"Miss Rose, may you please rise and come forward."

"Ah! Yes!"

She rose out of her seat and walked between the desks until she was standing right next to the other girl-who's name she could deduce as "Ryuko Matoi". The teacher, standing right next to them, adjusted his sunglasses as he started to speak to the rest of the class.

"This is Ryuko Matoi, who has transferred into Second Year Class K today…" He motioned towards Ryuko, who didn't say anything. "...and this is Ruby Rose, who will be starting school here at Honnoji Academy for the first time."

The crowd of students only descended into more conversations as he said this. She glanced over to the other girl, who was looking at her, and waved meekly with a whispered "Hi". The girl blinked, before a voice echoed out from the class.

"Ryuko! Ryuko! Over here, over here! This desk is free!"

She looked at the source of the voice. It was a girl-almost unremarkable in how she looked, with bowl cut short brown hair and eyes. The only thing that was catching her off guard was the massive grin on her face, which was a far cry from the rest of the gloomy-looking class.

She continued to speak loudly, while Ruby herself could hear a small conversation come from Ryuko and the teacher.

"Oh."

"You know each other?"

"I wouldn't say that we're acquaintances, exactly…"

"Well, that's how Mankanshoku is. That'll be your seat then."

"Okay...what about her." She pointed a finger at Ruby.

"Oh! I'm a...I'm sitting on the other side of that desk…" She stammered, Ryuko blinked again, before shrugging her shoulders and walked over to her desk.

Ruby stood there like a log-only moving as she heard the teacher tell her "You can sit down now." She jumped slightly, before rushing over to her desk and taking a seat. As soon as she did, the other girl turned her head and looked at them with a huge smile.

"I'm Mako Mankanshoku! Well, I'll be! You're a transfer student, huh? And you're new…" She craned her head forward as she nodded towards Ruby. "Nice to meet you both!"

The two of them shared a glance with each other, wondering how someone could be so chipper in this place, before the girl named Ryuko turned and asked a question.

"That boy you said was killed by the student council, was that him out front?"

"Right, right! That kinda thing happens all the time, so don't worry about it!"

Ryuko's face changed to a scowl, while Ruby's thoughts from earlier came back. This happens all the time, but why would they do that!?

Before she could think further on it though, the teacher began the lesson for today's class. She decided to push back her thoughts for now and focus on the class for now. As she did, though, she heard something in Mako's direction.

She looked over, and saw Mako rapidly wolfing down a lunchbox or sorts, before she just as rapidly fell asleep. Ryuko looked over, and instantly went slack-jawed.

"She's already asleep!"

"How?"

* * *

 _Where did she run off to…_

"Ryuko!"

She stepped to the side as Mako flew past her, slamming face first into the ground, rolling, and finally slamming into a series of garbage cans. Only taking a glance into her direction (and seeing that she was completely fine) Ryuko continued on to her destination, pushing the door outside opening and walking out to the main field of the school.

"Why'd you dodge me, Ryuko?!" Mako ran up until her pace was the same as hers, Ryuko-still looking around for her main target-sighed.

"It's normal to dodge something that comes flying from out of nowhere, isn't it?"

The girl let out a vexed grunt. "I was just going to give my bestie a hug!"

"Bestie?"

"Well, we're desk neighbors, so I just want us to get along, okay!"

"Yeah, yeah…" She slowly started to tune Mako out as she looked across the field for the person she was looking for. Needless to say, it didn't take long to spot her…

...A mop of short black hair that turned a dark red at the tips went rather well with her silver colored eyes. Her clothes were inexplicably gothic, with a black and red trimmed color scheme that stood out particularly against the white and light blue uniforms everyone else wore. In particular, the most odd addition to her outfit was the red cloak wrapped around her shoulders that was hampered somewhat by being under a rather big backpack.

She didn't know if the girl was cosplaying or something like that, but if she was dressed like that...could she know something?

 _Either way, I've found you, Ruby Rose…_

"Ah! Ryuko, quick! Bow! Bow!"

Before she knew what was happening, Ryuko felt herself get yanked down by Mako until she was pretty much kneeling beneath her. Quickly she looked around to see what was going on, and noticed that nearly every other student was bowing.

"Why'd you pull me down!?"

"Sorry! Sorry! I don't want you to get in trouble on your first day here!"

"Alright then...What's going on, exactly?"

"Yeah, what's going on?"

Ryuko nearly jumped out of her skin as her head whipped around to see Ruby right next to her, an expression of curiosity on her face. "How'd you get over here!?"

"Huh? I ran over…"

"That was too fast!"

"Shhh!" The two went quiet as Mako silenced them. Taking a glance at each other, the two of them looked out to one end of the row and spotted a single figure making their way down a flight of stairs…

...He was gargantuan, to say the least. A massive hulk of rugged muscle that could intimidate all that he walked by. His skin was much darker than a large majority of the student body, which contrasted well with his blonde smoothed hair and large eyebrows. He walked in the middle of the crowd of people that bowed to him, and nearly everyone that he walked past seemed to go pale for a split second before color returned to their face.

Ryuko looked up at Mako. "He a bigshot?"

"Yep, That's Ira Gamagoori, the Disciplinary Committee Chairman!"

"Disciplinary Committee?"

"Yeah, he's one of the Four Elites on the student council."

"I met him yesterday…"

"Huh?" Ryuko turned to the girl by her side. Ruby was looking at Gamagoori with a rather intimidated, yet familiar expression.

"He was the one that greeted me when I entered the school grounds, and showed me around when I was told I would be attending the academy."

The gigantic beast of a student walked past them, and as he did Ryuko couldn't help but wonder why he seemed a little different from the rest.

"So what makes him so special?"

"He's a Third-Star."

"Third-Star?"

"Yep, compared to us No-Stars, he's a whole three ranks above us."

"No-Star?" Ryuko was honestly dumbfounded by all the terminology being dropped on her, and from a quick look to Ruby, it was clear she was as confused as she was. Mako nonetheless continued on, regardless of their confusion…

"Our school uniforms have amazing superhuman powers, making them incredible when you own one. They're called Goku-Uniforms and they go from One-Star to Three-Star, which is the top of the ladder in the school."

"So the Three-Stars are the strongest here?" Ruby asked.

"No, That would be Satsuki Kiryuin, who bestows Goku uniforms in accordance with a student's abilities. Long story short, our uniforms are awesome! Did you understand all that?"

No, no she did not, but she did catch on one small part of her little discription…

"So the biggest one here is that student council president?" Mako nodded in response. Ryuko frowned...seemed like she had her work cut out for her once again.

Before she could speak up, though, a bright light suddenly started shining from the same direction that Gamagoori came from. The three of them looked up to see the source: a young woman walking down the stairs.

The girl had long hair that reached nearly all the way down her back, and rather...large eyebrows currently furrowed. She was rather slim, with white clothes that stood out from the rest of the school uniforms. She could almost compare it more to a business suit than anything else.

Ryuko glared at her. "Is that the president?"

"Yep, that's Satsuki Kiryuin!"

That was all she needed to hear…

Without a moment's hesitation, she stepped out to block her way.

"What are you doing!?" She heard Ruby sputter out. She ignored it as she turned to face the Student Council President.

"So, you're the queen bee in this school huh?" The girl stopped mid step, and opened her eyes-blue, piercing eyes-to look at her. "I have a few questions I'd like to discuss with you…"

Instantly, she was surrounded by several students-all clean cut, with bowl-shaped black hair and a lighter shade of blue than the rest. All of them were scowling at her…

"You bitch, **Who the hell do you think you are!?** "

They all jumped her...only to be swatted away by the large guitar case on her back. Cracking it open, she stuck her hand into the open handle of what was inside, pulling it out and twirling it before pointing it at Satsuki. Everyone nearby stared in shock as they got a full look at what she held: a large red scissor blade.

Satsuki blinked at the sight of the blade. Something which Ryuko spotted instantly...meaning she had to be familiar with the weapon!

To the side, Mako's hands were cupped to her cheeks as she looked at the blade, while Ruby's eyes were a mix of disbelief and...were those hearts?

"It's a huge scissor!"

"So cool…" Ruby seemed to trail off.

"Right. It's one half of a giant pair of scissors. I'm looking for who has the other half...and from the way you looked at this, prez, I'm guessing you're shocked to see this here, huh!?"

Her eyes narrowed. "And if I have?"

A switch went off in Ryuko's head. "How you said that... **You have the second half, don't you!** "

She charged her, sprinting up towards the stairs with the blade pointed towards her. Leaping forward, she prepared herself to thrust forward (the fact that she was holding a sword in her hand be damned) when…

" **Tek! Ken! Fun! Sai!"**

She felt something massive slam into her, and without a seconds notice she was flying, slamming into several unfortunate saps on the way through before she slammed into the ground...hard.

Everyone's jaw dropped...especially Ruby's. Her mind in total disbelief, she looked at the newcomer at the foot of the stairs. Satsuki also noticed him, and instantly recognized who it exactly was.

"Fukuroda."

"Yes, ma'am-" He answered. "-Boxing Club Fukuroda Takaharu. Please allow me to get rid of this trash for you, m'lady!"

"Do what you want."

Almost as if on cue, Ryuko burst through the crowd and swung at Takaharu, only for him to deflect it with his...massive glove. Ryuko skidded back as her other hand reached for the handle to her scissor.

"The hell! Is that glove made of iron!?"

"Do you not even comprehend what uniform this is?"

"Huh? What uniform!?"

"These gloves and trunks, These are a boxers uniform! In addition to the Athleticism-Augmenting Two-Star uniform granted to me by Lady Satsuki. A glove imbued with Life-Fibers will make that glove as strong as steel!"

"So that all just means I don't need to hold my punches then!" Ryuko said as she shifted to the sharpened side of her blade. Takaharu grit his teeth…

"Pull your punches!? How dare you underestimate me!"

He punched forward with his left, and the glove suddenly split into many smaller gloves. They shot straight towards Ryuko, slamming into her with a force she would almost compare to a truck. As each hit reached their mark, Takaharu screamed out his attack, the gloves doing exactly as he yelled. It wasn't until he yelled out for an uppercut that the fight finally-and brutally-finished. Ryuko slammed into the ground, covered in lumps and bruises from being battered constantly.

Everyone, save Fukuroda and Satsuki, stared in stunned silence-barely even noticing the rain that began to fall from the sky. The silence permeated the air until Satsuki herself finally spoke up.

"Pathetic, you looked like you would be amusing, but you don't even know how to wield that scissor properly…" She started to walk away, and at this action, life seemed to return to Ryuko.

"Stop right there! You know something, I can tell-"

" **Silence, Fool!"**

A dropkick from Takaharu was the response she got. "You have no right to address Lady Satsuki directly, worm!"

As Ryuko fell to the ground, her world started to go dark. For a second, she thought that sleep wasn't that bad of an idea...until she heard "Confiscate that scissor."

 _Not a chance in hell, you bitch!_

She stood up and glared at the guy in front of her. "Go fuck yourself! This blade I won't ever give up to anyone...not a chance in hell!" She swung down at Takaharu, only to miss completely and earn a mocking laugh from the bastard.

"You think a swing that easy to see will hit! You must be a dumbass!" He started forward for a finishing blow...only to trip and fall on his face. Seeing the opportunity, Ryuko started to sprint away from him. If she could only make it to the gate…

...However, her effort was in vain. Several One-Stars instantly formed a row in front of her blocking her path. She skidded to a stop and looked around as she saw that she was completely surrounded...and Takaharu was getting back up.

He sneered. "Ha, fool! Did you really think we'll let you escape that easily, we've had idiots like you before!" He stood up and started straight for her. Ryuko raised her scissor blade, taking quick glances around her to see if there was an opening...any opening…

...But it was in vain. She really was trapped…

...That's when the sound of a gunshot rang out.

Everyone turned their head toward the sound, but it was too late. Not even Takaharu could react as a red blur whipped right past his head. The only thing that they could discern from it was a distinct voice that got louder upon approach.

"IIII'MMM SSSSOOOOO SSSSSOOOORRRRRRRRYYYYY AAAAABBBBOOOUUUTTTT TTTTTHHHHHIIIIISSSSSS!"

Ryuko couldn't even see it as a pair of black, red heeled boots planted themselves straight into her face. She barely realized what had happened as she started to fly over the One-Stars and toward the gate, and as she rolled across the ground, she could barely raise her head as she looked towards the source of her momentary flight.

Ruby was kneeling where she originally was. In her hands-held just above her-was a large, mechanical scythe. The color was a vivid red and complete black, the blade sharp looking enough to cut through wood. Ryuko stared at the unorthodox weapon in awe...where did she get one of those!?

Her interference wasn't only noticed by Ryuko. Takaharu stared slack-jawed as he wondered how this girl managed to smuggle something like this into the school. Mako once again had her cheeks cupped in her hands, however her eyes were shining-like she had just found a coin in the middle of the road on a lucky day. The other No-Stars and One-Stars were all wide-eyed, absolutely blown away by how a petite girl like Ruby could hold such a massive weapon…

...Out of everyone there, however, Satsuki was the most composed of them all. She narrowed her eyes as she looked more closely at the person who was helping Ryuko escape. "Ruby Rose…"

Ruby's head shot up, her eyes focused on Ryuko.

"Run now, here's your chance!"

For a moment, Ryuko was confused at what she was saying...then she remembered what she was originally going to do, and instantly made a break for the gate.

As she reached the gate, a guy on a bike came up around the corner. With no time to waste she bumped him off of his bike and started the engines. "Sorry, I'll return it later!" She revved the engine and turned around, driving away from Honnoji in record time…

...Back at the gate, the man yelled at her. "Hey, what about my orders!"

Just as quickly as she left, she drove back around, dropping the food right next to her, before high-tailing it out of there.

* * *

"Run now, here's your chance!"

She yelled in the direction of the bloody and battered Ryuko, who blinked in confusion, before recognizing what she was saying, and began to high-tail it out of there.

It was then that Fukuroda realized he was gonna let his prey get away if he kept gawking. quickly he began to chase after Ryuko…

"Oi, wait a minute! We're not done here, **get back here you indignant bi** -"

He didn't get to finish. Ruby started swinging her scythe until it was in line with Takaharu's path, and just as the angle was right enough, she pulled the trigger on her scythe…

...A gun round flew out of the very end of the weapon. The various One-Stars that were in the path of the gun (at point blank range) barely managed to dodge as the round flew right past them and straight into the wall several feet away. The round also managed to propel the momentum of Ruby's swing hard enough that as soon as it hit Takaharu's glove, Takaharu would skid on the ground several feet before stopping.

Without a second thought, Ruby looked back at the gate. Ryuko was far gone (though strangely there was a man and some food there) and was more than likely hiding low for now. Ruby sighed in relief, before turning back towards Takaharu…

...He was furious, that much was certain. He glared at her with wide, enraged eyes and his teeth grit together. For a second, Ruby thought that his teeth were maybe even grinding...as she heard several low growls coming from him.

Ruby swallowed, before she spun her weapon over her until it was embedded into the ground-the gun pointed directly at Takaharu…

" **You little bitch...How dare you interfere in the affairs of Honnoji Academy and Lady Satsuki! M'lady-"** He turned towards Satsuki. " **Please permit me to smash this little runt into the ground!"**

Satsuki was silent. Everyone waited for an answer from her, but it didn't come right away. Though many were unable to see it, Ruby-with her eyes having been trained to see things across incredibly long distances-noticed the look in her eyes for a split second. The look one gives when they see a child and wonder...how did they do something like this?

Then, just as quickly, that expression disappeared, and the Student Council President finally spoke. "Do as you wish…"

Just like that, Takaharu flipped around and swung his left at the girl. The split of gloves was instantaneous, and they all sailed straight for Ruby...None of them hit their target whatsoever…

Ruby disappeared in an instant from where she was standing, leaving only rose petals where she originally was. Takaharu went wide eyed-how the hell did she do that! And where did she go!

His answer came from the sound of a gun above. He barely had enough time to react before his right glove managed to deflect a round away from him (and accidently having it sail into several One-Stars again, who promptly dodged it). He looked up, just in time to see her coming back down, spinning her scythe in a downward spiral. He kept his glove raised as the scythe railed against it-sparks flying out from the sudden impact.

" **Dammit!"**

He went for a hook with is left, but canceled it immediately as another swing came around from his right. His glove withheld the blow, but instantly swung away from him as another quick, yet strong blow slammed into it from the opposite direction. He glanced over it in shock before he could realize what was really happening, and the girl kicked his face with both feet.

He rolled backwards, standing and coming to a stop about a foot away. Dazed from the blow, he luckily managed to bring his glove up as Ruby spun on the handle of her scythe-currently embedded in the ground-before landing on her feet and spinning the blade down on the poor glove.

Using the momentum of the glove to his advantage, he slammed it into the ground in hopes of screwing with her footing. It seemed to work, as Takaharu brought his feet up…

" **Eat this, you little-"**

His feet collided with the shaft of her scythe, sending her skidding a few feet away. As soon as she stopped however, she pushed toward him at an inhuman speed that none-save for Satsuki-could follow properly. He jabbed forward with his left, only to be sidestepped instantly, the next thing he knew, a blunt object slammed into his back, and he went flying forward until he slammed into the ground face first.

The bladed end of Ruby's scythe landed on the ground with a clank. Taking a small breath, she swung the blade up and started twirling it around herself, finishing with the blade embedded in the ground once again. She reached over to the side and pulled on a crank, just as Takaharu got back up…

"You... **Little-** " He spun around and shot his left toward her, sending multitudes of boxing gloves sailing at her. However, like the last time, she disappeared from where she stood-leaving only petals where she originally was.

The fists changed trajectory. Chasing her around the entirety of the school grounds, yet each time they missed their mark, only hitting air and flying into the walls and the ground around them. The various students stuck in the crossfire scrambled to dodge the incoming fire, which slammed into various areas with the force of a wrecking ball.

Finally, she dodged the last fist flown at her. Landing on both feet, she instantly shot forward-a shockwave emanating from behind her.

Despite his inability to follow her, Takaharu could guess what was coming next. With a loud roar, he raised his large right glove and slammed it into the ground-sending debris flying straight into the sky.

This was a big mistake on his part…

Ruby changed direction in the span of a second, speeding straight to the left of him. He glanced in the direction of her blur, but couldn't follow as she disappeared completely in the chunks of earth around him. Panicking, he shot his head around in various directions, looking for the girl in the red hood. But he couldn't spot her, it was like she disappeared.

That's when he realized where she was _really_ went.

" **Above!?"** He shouted as his head rocked back, his sight directly on her. Ruby landed on the highest piece of debris there was and, like a bullet fired from a gun, shot towards him at an insane speed. He could barely react in time-he raised his glove above his head and prepared for the blow that was rocketing toward him as she yelled above him.

The scythe clanged against his glove and-as if the world fell on him-drove it down into the ground. The resulting force pushed outwards, sending several students flying, as well as causing fissures to spread outwards several yards away…

However, the blow did little beyond staggering Takaharu, who responded by yanking his arm upwards. Ruby's weapon flew out from her grip, startling her as it landed behind her a fair distance away.

Seeing a chance, Takaharu swung his right at her. Ruby's head whipped toward him as she put her arms in front of her torso in defence. The blow that came bashed into her hard enough that she flew several feet before rolling on the ground and skidding to a stop just a little farther.

He froze, realizing that he actually managed to hit her. The girl that had just _recently_ appeared, was proceeding to make a mockery of him and Honnoji, and seemed to be dancing around him like he was some poorly practiced ballet partner...and he actually, _finally_ hit her! Slowly he started laughing, his momentary success over his opponent bringing a euphoric feeling to his heart as he started roaring at her.

"You see! This is what happens when you defy Honnoji Academy, you **damn fool!** You get beaten down till you're nothing but a stair for Lady Satsuki to step on as she marches to the top! **you are nothing! Just a pile of shit on the ground, a worthless insect waiting to be crushed...** something I'm happy to oblige to…"

He started walking towards her-a large, toothy smile on his face...until he noticed that she was getting back up, his smile disappearing as it was replaced with a look of contorted rage.

Ruby stood, and started to relieve the ache in her arms as she turned to face him. Then she did something that sent Takaharu over the edge: she smiled and responded in kind. "We'll see who's a stain on the wall when all's said and done."

Takaharu's rage reached the apex. A distinct aura of malice seemed to burst out from him as a chain attached to his glove started being pulled by a spike on his shorts. " **That's it...you're dead, you bitch...I'm gonna plaster you across the fucking school walls…"**

He started pulling harder on the chain. However, his blind rage distracted him from the girl in front of him...who slowly started to crouch and-with a little build up-blasted towards him.

The speed at which she rushed toward him practically blasted all behind her several feet away, before being dragged back into a sort of slipstream that sagged behind Ruby, who started spinning like a torpedo towards Takaharu. He couldn't react at all as she blazed past him at a rate of speed possibly even faster than last time, and soon found himself dragged into the following hurricane following her.

Every One-Star student that was in the same direction soon found themselves dragged in. Everyone of them spun in the air at rapid speeds as Ruby rushed toward the wall...and skidded to a stop _just_ at the wall, which proceeded to crack from the slipstream's force…

Takaharu, as well as all of the One-Stars that followed, all smashed against the wall, then against each other. The force of the slipstream pushed them up against the wall like a pancake, and soon nearly all of them were unconscious just before the gust died down and let them all fall to the ground.

Takaharu was the last to fall, gravity finally working its magic as his body started towards the ground. Ruby, meanwhile, disappeared-leaving her signature rose petals-before skidding towards her weapon. She grabbed onto the shaft as she stopped, twirled it around her, before once again slamming the tip of the blade into the ground-her finger on the trigger.

The field fell into a dead silence. Everyone except Satsuki stared in abject shock at what they just witnessed. No one moved, no one said a word-they could only marvel at the new girl-a complete No-Star-beating a Two-Star into submission with little problem…

...Then Takaharu started to get back up…

He stood up, shaking with fury. He raised his head-revealing wild, bloodthirsty eyes that held a glint of malice within them. His shaking increased in frequency, before his hate and anger burst out in one vehement filled sentence.

" **You damn...you! You try to make a mockery of me, Fukuroda Takaharu! I'm gonna send you flying you bitch!"**

He rushed forward, swinging his large glove forward. Ruby began pulling the trigger on her scythe.

"That's enough, Fukuroda."

Everyone froze. The look in Takaharu's eyes changed from utter fury to complete fear, as did the look of everyone holding witness to the events happening before them. Only Mako-too childlike and innocent to hold proper fear towards anything-and Ruby-who was confused more than anything else-lacked such a look in their eyes…

Satsuki stood on the stairs, exactly where she was before the fighting started. Her eyes focused on Ruby as she took in the otherwise "unremarkable" girl's appearance-the clothing, red cloak, the hair, and the silver eyes. As her eyes shifted over to the large red scythe she held in her hands, several questions formed in her mind.

"You." She stared directly at Ruby, who blinked with confusion.

"Me?" She pointed to herself, and instantly felt like an idiot for asking a question where the answer was completely obvious.

Satsuki's eyes narrowed. "What school do you come from?"

"Uh. Well, um...Beacon Academy."

"No school goes by that name here in Japan…"

"Oh, really. Well I...yeah...I-It's a little complicated…"

"Who trained you to use that weapon?"

"Huh? Oh, my uncle Qrow! He trained me."

She paused. She had never heard of the name "Crow" before, yet it sounded distinctly familiar now that she thought about it. She repressed the thought for now and decided to look into it on a much more later time.

"How did you get that weapon?" She asked. Almost as if she had plugged the lights of a Christmas tree in, Ruby's eyes flashed brightly as she heard the question."

"You mean Crescent Rose! She's my baby, I made her all by myself-well okay, I had uncle Qrow help me, but I did a large majority of the work! It's a form altering scythe as well a capable range-altering, bolt action sniper rifle! It fires multiple types of rounds depending on the type of dust-"

"That's all I needed to know." Ruby stopped mid sentence, and instantly shrunk as Satsuki changed her attention to Fukuroda. He was clearly trying to hold back his panting-an understandable move, considering that weakness in front of her was a clear sign of a person's worth. She marvelled at the sight...not because she enjoyed it, but because of the clear fact before her. Fukuroda Takaharu was a Two-Star-just below the Elite Four's power level, and leagues stronger than any No-Star. Yet, here we were, with a No-Star standing a few yards away with little sign of exhaustion or pain, while a Two-Star stood panting-trying to look strong in front of his master…

...Who was Ruby Rose? Who was the one that managed to fight a Two-Star to a standstill, maybe even near defeat? Where did she come from? And most importantly...could she get her on her side?

For now, those were questions to be answered on another, less dreary day. She sighed, before addressing Fukuroda. "Fukuroda Takaharu. Your presence in the Student Council chambers is required... **immediately.** "

He flinched at the words. He knew exactly what was waiting for him later, and it would certainly dampen his abilities toward Lady Satsuki. He swallowed as he took a deep breath before responding "Yes Ma'am." and standing to make his way to the Student Council, only stopping to glare at Ruby on his way there.

Ruby watched the scene carefully unfold with a loss of words. Did she do something wrong?

"Ruby Rose?" She turned back to Satsuki.

"You may go along as you have for the rest of the day. But know that I'll be keeping a close eye on you…" She smirked. "...You have me intrigued with all sort of questions, all that I'll find the answers to eventually…"

And like nothing happened, she turned and walked away. The crowd of students did the same, dispersing and going about their activities from before. Only the One-Stars lingered-their anger clearly present-before dispersing themselves.

Ruby stood there watching this all unfold in real time. It wasn't until his shadow completely covered her that Ruby realized that Gamagoori was standing right next to her. She flinched as she realized, and waited for what may come next...but it never came. He only looked at her with a somber, disappointed look before walking away towards the same direction as Satsuki…

A single thought stood in her mind: _What's with this school?_

"RUBY!"

She felt something attach themselves to her, causing her to spin three times before falling onto the ground. Letting out a small groan, she opened her eyes to see that it was Mako on top of her…

"That was so cool! You were like, 'poof' here and 'poof' there and just, It was so cool!" She made several movements with her arms, most likely a way to show her amazement at the sight that she just saw. "And the way you came in to rescue Ryuko, it was so awesome, so cool! Hey, how do you do the speedy thing exactly, do you have a Goku Uniform!?"

 _Ryuko? Wait, Ryuko!_

"Ah! Excuse me, Mako, I got to head out for a minute. I'll see you later!" She stood and ran for the gate, using her semblance to speed up and rush down the stairs to the school at inhuman speeds.

"W-Wait! I didn't get to show you where I live, I really wanted to show you!" Mako's arms slumped in defeat. Looks like she was walking home alone once again.

* * *

In a far off, decaying building. Ryuko gripped tighter on the handle of her scissor blade. She had been so close to finding the truth! Yet, she had been beaten to a bloody pulp instantly, and thrown to the side like a used sandwich wrapper!

She glanced over to a picture to her left. The image of her father was burned away, leaving only a six year old Ryuko Matoi in the picture-an expression of sadness over her.

"Dad...I'm sorry, dad! I was close to discovering your killer, their identity was in reach, then…"

...Then she had to be rescued by that girl-Ruby Rose.

She felt pathetic, having to be saved by someone else. She always thought it was better for her to finish whatever she started without outside interference. To do whatever she wanted alone, so that neither she nor anyone associated with her ever got...ever got…no, she didn't need to say it. She was strong, they were stronger, and she stepped in more likely because it was the "right" thing to do...something Ryuko honestly couldn't believe in this day and age...

...Still, it was nice. To find someone who could help her...even if "help" involved planting their boots in her face.

However, that didn't help her in the slightest with finding her father's killer. She grit her teeth...she _was_ strong, but she was weak when compared to those bastards at Honnoji. She needed...she needed to…

"I need to get stronger...I need to become stronger! I... **I need strength! If only I had more power!** "

Despite her pleas, a sliver of doubt entered her mind. How could she obtain power? The answer came as the floor parted in two underneath her.

For a second, she froze in shock, then she promptly started screaming as she rapidly descended down the hole-a pair of doors above closing together until the "hole" was no longer there.

Hiding behind a decrepit pillar, a man with aviator sunglasses and a controller in his hand walked out and watched it close. Satisfied, he took off his glasses while simultaneously sweeping his hair back, revealing a handsome man underneath the "disguise."

Aikuro Mikisugi smiled. "The rest is up to you...Ryuko Matoi."

* * *

 **Part 1: Vengeance and Remnants.**

 **Chapter 1: This Will Be the Day…**

* * *

 **Well...I'm back, and I guess I have no excuses here, do I…**

 **So, let me just say that I was pretty much stuck in a rut when it came to writing over the last few months since I released something, and hence that's likely why you haven't heard jack from me since then. I'm actually glad and amazed I managed to finish this (probably not as well as I like, but nothing can be completely perfect) at all…**

 **So, I've had an idea for a RWBY/Kill la Kill crossover for a long time (partially because I like both series, partially because I wonder how a crossover like this would work, partially because the number of fics that cross them over is pathetic-FOUR, REALLY!-and partially because I actually support them as a crossover ship-** _ **I call the name of this ship Rosefiber for anyone that agrees with me**_ **) and I tried to actually try and write them together in a story that put them in the universe and** _ **Bloodborne**_ **(nihilistic mindfuckery and fears of the Old Blood abound!) But of course...I lost track and interest in the idea…**

 **Yet, like a ghost that constantly returns to haunt you, the idea of a RWBY/Kill la Kill crossover still pervaded my mind for the following months, even after I returned to playing video games, watching One Punch Man (ONE PUUUUNNNCH!) and Volume 3 of RWBY (WHY! OH GOD, WHY PENNY!?) and suddenly having a feeling to watch a few horror movies (The Thing, Friday the 13th, etc.). Finally, after months of this malarkey, and recently starting back up with college, I finally decided to return to the idea from scratch (and to the basics, and whatever metaphor you can think of that means "starting over")...**

 **...The result is what you see up above. And again, I will say, I'm rather happy with how it came out (a few pet peeves notwithstanding).**

 **So, to answer a few questions and joss a couple theroes. First: Ruby Rose will be the only RWBY character featured in this story! I know-** _ **what! But you said it's a RWBY/Kill la Kill crossover story!?-**_ **and it is...and so was that** _ **Bloodborne**_ **fic too. While it would be interesting to try and fit the rest of Team RWBY into the story, I get the feeling it would screw with the fic to some extent...and besides, I kinda like the idea of Ruby Rose being stuck alone in another universe having to fend for herself with only a few allies to help her…**

 **Next! Does this mean that this story is primarily Kill la Kill-centric. Well...yes, and no. It does primarily take place in the universe of Kill la Kill, but some elements from RWBY will definitely be included later down the line (** _ **including everyone's favorite scourge of humanity...mwa ha ha ha...or will they?**_ **). And, if you're not sated with that, I already have thoughts for a sequel in mind-what with Volume 3 being viewed and whatnot.**

 **Next! Are you going to continue with what you've written before this...unfortunately, no. Like I said, I kinda petered out after a while with the above** _ **Bloodborne**_ **story, as well as what I've written before. In fact, to make sure I don't peter out with this one (hopefully), I actually made a chapter guide to help me in case my mind fizzes…**

 **Next! Doesn't this fic sound a lot like another Kill la Kill crossover fic. Yes, I know it sounds like "To My Death I Fight" by BahamutReishiki (and yes, you should go read it, it's awesome). I'll also admit that it is partly inspired by this to some extent, but whereas TMDIF is kinda turning into a large mega-crossover involving multiple characters (as well as deviating from the Kill la Kill storyline and diving closely to Hellsing's storyline and the current Bleach arc), I only plan to keep it to Kill la Kill and RWBY in terms of characters, as well as keeping more to the general Kill la Kill storyline. I have** _ **ideas**_ **for a mega crossover later featuring these characters, just not in this storyline (think of it like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which gives us our heroes origin stories before shooting straight into The Avengers).**

 **Now, many of you are wondering why I pretty much had Ruby make Takaharu her personal punching bag for this chapter. It goes along with this theory I had about how someone like Ruby can even stand against Honnoji Academy alongside Ryuko (and please bear with me as I use some good 'ol TV Tropes to help me here).**

 **Essentially, Ruby is of the Weak, but skilled variety-where physically she wouldn't stand a chance against Two-Stars and Three-Stars if she fought them straight and head on-barring the fact that she has Aura...which I'm sure, if it was taken away she could be KO'd with a simple clock to the nose. However, due to her training as a huntress in comparison to Two and Three-Stars, Ruby could soundly take on the likes of these enemies without a single problem. For context, Ruby has been trained for who-knows-how-long to properly wield one of the most dangerous weapons of all time, AND continued training well into the series proper...in stark comparison to a large chunk of Honnoji, who started stuff like this as soon as they entered the place (exceptions being Satsuki, Sanageyama, a few club leaders based off of combat...and of course Ryuko).**

 **Plus, if you give the argument that Takaharu** _ **is**_ **one of those exceptions, I'll also point out that he seems highly irritable (which is easy to exploit), and he's only capable of attacking directly with little variation beyond a stream of punches, a drill punch, some (illegal) kicking, and nothing much else. Something that wouldn't really work on Ruby, who can think outside of the box.**

 **Another thing you may notice is the "Part 1: Vengeance and Roses." thing up above. Yep, this is going to be split into specific segments (no, that doesn't mean they'll be separate fics) to make things a little bit easier to follow. Currently I'm looking at six separate segments and a two chapter epilogue, with this part lasting for five chapters.**

 **...I also thought up some general songs to serve as theme music for them. The first being the first opening for Kill la Kill (sirius-Eir Aoi).**

 **Finally, I do plan to name each chapter after a specific song from the 70's and 80's (like Kill la Kill and, again, To My Death I Fight). For the chapter names I'm mostly thinking of heavy metal music/hard rock as my main choice-this includes bands and artists like Scorpions and Ronnie James Dio. Granted, there are a few exceptions (the first two chapter titles will be based off of music from the two series...and I kinda have an idea when we reach No-Late Day too…) but I'll try to keep it consistent as possible.**

 **Now with that all out of the way...PLEASE REVIEW! Constructive Critique is always welcome (no matter how much it may hurt my feelings), you can also favorite or follow if you want to! Though I don't mind if you don't want to either…**

 **So with a final goodbye, I say thank you for reading this opening chapter...now just let me drop this small piece here…**

 **Chapter 2: ...Don't Lose Your Way!**

 **For Fun, Fedora's, and Insanity! PEACE!**

 **-CrazeStasis**


	2. Chapter 2: Don't Lose Your Way!

**NOTE: I do not own either RWBY or Kill la Kill. RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth, and Kill la Kill belongs to studio TRIGGER…**

 **Also, {} Denotes Kamui speech. If it doesn't show in the chapter, let me know...**

* * *

 _ **I'm falling! I'm falling! I'm falling! Shit, shit, shit! Stop, STOP!**_

Ryuko's mind scrambled as she jammed her scissor blade into the wall as she tried to stop her descent. However, just as she seemed to be slowing down, her back slammed into something...rather weak, to be honest. As the next thing she knew, she burst through whatever it was and fell right on top of a pile of...were these pillows?

"Oww…" She sat herself upright as she looked above. It seems that the exit that dropped her down here was gone, as she couldn't see any light or rain coming down anymore. She sighed...she was really getting sick and tired of these kinds of things happening to her.

She looked around at the room she was in. It wasn't really anything special-large, concrete brick walls, piles of pillows and clothing everywhere with several strange rods sticking out, and some buried machinery at one end of the place. It was almost completely dark and difficult to see, but otherwise a completely bland room. Still, she was a little bit surprised…

"I don't remember this place being down here? When did this-Ouch!?" She looked to her left arm and saw as blood dripped down it onto the fabric of the pillows, turning them to a bright shade of red. "I reopened the wound from earlier?"

That was bad. She didn't want to bleed out down here, she needed to find a way out...or at least something to stop the bleeding.

 _There are pillowcases down here that I could use._

She slid down the pillows and stopped at the foot of the hill of pillows she was on. Quickly she glanced around to see if there was any exit around that she could see, but it seemed like she would have to wander around until she found one. Sighing once more, she started to look for a door…

...What she didn't notice, as she started walking away, were a pile of pillows slowly shifting and shaking. It wasn't until a voice spoke out that she stopped dead in her tracks.

{...Wait…}

She turned around, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, nor was there anyone around other than her...so why did she hear a-

{,,,Please, give me more…}

She raised her blade to defend against whatever was coming. "Who's there...show yourself!?" Whoever it was simply repeated what he said, saying he needed more louder and louder until he was shouting...what exactly he wanted more of, she didn't know. But, whatever he wanted, she wouldn't give so easily…

...That's when "he" jumped out at her…

...She slashed at a pillow, cutting it half, and revealing the one that was speaking...as well as stunning Ryuko into silence and disbelief. Because the one attacking her wasn't human...it was a sailor fuku.

It was colored primarily black, with red trimmings around the wrists and torso area. The large red ribbon usually tying the top together was instead similar to a pair of eyebrows, which sat above a pair of eyes-one covered by an eyepatch, and the other a combination of yellow, red, and orange. As if that didn't shock her, the one thing that did was the large, gaping mouth where the abdomen would typically be.

She stood there stiff. A sailor fuku was talking?

Then the outfit tackled her, pinning her against a wall as it stared at her with bloodshot eyes.

{DON'T LEAVE ME! PLEASE, PUT ME ON NOW!} The fuku started to rip her top off, making her face turn several shades of red as she tried to fight him. "W-W-Wh-WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU PERVERT!?"

{WEAR ME, FEED ME BLOOD NOW! I DON'T WANT TO FALL ASLEEP AGAIN, PLEASE!}

"YOU'RE TALKING!?"

{QUIT PANICKING, JUST WEAR ME ALREADY!}

"HOW ARE YOU TALKING!"

{THAT ISN'T WHAT'S IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW!}

"OF COURSE IT IS, SAILOR FUKU DON'T TALK!" She said as they both fell to the ground struggling.

For another second, she tried to fight off the sentient sailor fuku as they argued, however it proved to be in vain as the outfit finally ripped off her clothes and...put himself on?

{YES! I'M A PERFECT FIT!} It triumphantly yelled as Ryuko slowly stood up.

For a minute, nothing seemed to happen other than Ryuko feeling extremely tight from the outfit. Then she felt something slowly build up as red sparks started to fly around her. It kept building...and building, and building, and building-until she thought the pressure would almost crush her. Then, like a tidal wave, she burst…

Red light blasted outwards and upwards...and the only thing Ryuko could see afterwards were stars…

* * *

" **You! Damn! Moron!"**

He swung his shinai down on Takaharu's back for the fifteenth time, and just like the last three it broke and fell to the ground. Takaharu grunted, but didn't flinch-he had been seen as weak enough that day already...he didn't want to show it even more, especially in the presence of Lady Satsuki, who quietly sipped a cup of tea as his punishment was meted out.

"I have no excuses for my actions!"

Gamagoori stepped forward. "Not only was the transfer student who mocked Lady Satsuki able to escape, but you failed to confiscate the scissor as ordered, AND you were publicly beaten and humiliated by a No-Star student with their own contraband!" He looked over at Sanageyama. " **The boxing club is your responsibility, Sanageyama! Failures like this will NOT be tolerated!"**

" **You don't need to tell me that dammit! Why do you think I'm discipling him?"** Athletic Committee Chair Uzu Sanageyama tossed the broken shinai handle onto the ground as he took a seat-propping his legs up on the table. "And besides, wouldn't it also be your fault if Lady Satsuki was mocked Gamagoori?"

Gamagoori looked ready to blow a gasket, until another voice-Information and Strategy Chair Houka Inumuta-spoke up. "Here's some information on her. Apparently she's caused some rabble within the Eastern Kanto Region at high schools subjugated under Honnoji's rule. They say these battles were on an individual level and never sent word about them."

"Useless...inform all branch high school principals to raise their alert status."

"Yes, Ma'am, my apologies."

Another voice started chuckling, before Nonon Jakuzure-Non-Athletic Committee Chair-spoke. "My, My. The toad, monkey, and frog have all screwed up...it's a rare day today." She shifted in her chair. "Barring that, however, it's shocking that the blade she was carrying could cut a Goku Uniform…"

"That scythe-wielding girl too...She could also cut through the uniform as well. How is that possible, Lady Satsuki?"

Satsuki put her cup down on the plate she held in her hand. "The scissor blade is a special weapon made to combat Life-Fibers, and therefore Goku Uniforms. I'm assuming the scythe-Crescent Rose, if I remember-is made the same...however, something about it is off…"

The Elite Four looked at one another as Satsuki told them what the weapon's were capable of, as well as Satsuki's observation about the scythe.

"Crescent Rose seems capable of cutting Life-Fibers, however it doesn't seemed designed for fighting Goku Uniforms. It seems more fit for hunting something...something far worse than a Goku Uniform…" She went silent for a minute, before turning toward Inumuta. "What information is there on Ruby Rose?"

Inumuta growled. "...There isn't any."

"What!?" Both Gamagoori and Sanageyama shouted.

"Well, the dog can't sniff something out for once- **This is a rare day.** "

"I could do without your sly wit for today, Jakuzure…" He turned to his laptop. "I've looked through every record I could find on her, both nationally and globally, and I still can't find a Ruby Rose with the same appearance as the one attending our school. Similarly, I can't find any records for anyone named "Crow" in our database-even names with possible typos or similar distinctions like "Qrow" or "Raven" turn up blank."

"And the letter, Inumuta?" Houka paused, sighed, and pulled up a picture of a ornate letter on the big screen.

"It's legitimate, as much as I'd hate to say it. The letter is completely free of mistakes, and the style of the signature is the same as the one she wrote on a class assignment earlier today. We can't pin anything on her through this…"

"I see...Continue looking for information on our "Ruby Rose."

"Yes, Ma'am."

What about the transfer student." Gamagoori asked. "How can she be carrying a weapon made to combat Goku Uniforms as well?"

Satsuki turned her seat as she started to raise her cup of tea to her lips. "Her name is…" Inumuta turned, typed something on his laptop, before turning back to Satsuki.

"Ryuko Matoi."

Satsuki paused just as the cup was near her mouth. "Matoi?" She smirked. "It's just as I thought it was…"

* * *

 **Crimson Incandescence**

 **Chapter 2: Don't Lose Your Way!**

* * *

"I give up!"

Ruby Rose planted herself against a wall and slid down until her head was on her knees. She had spent nearly the entirety of the previous day and the present afternoon looking for Ryuko, but despite her efforts, Ryuko had remained illusive-like she had simply disappeared from the face of the Earth! She had looked in every nook and cranny, the sewers, even some of the outskirts of the city!

 _Where did she go?_ She tried to retrace her steps. First she remembered...kicking her in the face (she was sorry!), then saw her ride a bike away. She followed every area that she could that had tire trails to see if she could find her. When that didn't work, she looked around the rest of the city, asked several people around town if they saw her, but none of them did…

She sighed in frustration. If she could use a metaphor for this kind of situation, the "needle in a haystack" would be a _very_ adequate description.

This whole situation was messed up. She had no idea how she got here, no idea who anyone was, she had seen a boy hanged in front of the front gate-dead, bloody, and beaten. The school was practically a dictatorship, and now she was more than likely wanted by them for beating one of their own…

"I wanna go home…"

She sat there for awhile. She felt exhausted-looking for Ryuko had caused Ruby to overexert her semblance for nearly the entire time yesterday. When she woke up today (from sleeping on a bench in a quiet part of the shantytowns) she felt like a sledgehammer had been beating her very being, and she wanted to vomit since she had barely eaten anything either.

Another nap would perhaps be good for her. She layed down on the ground with her backpack, closed her eyes, and started to doze off…

"HEY RED!"

...Until she heard a familiar nickname. Her eyes bolted open, and she jumped with Crescent Rose drawn outward. "AH! T- **Torchwick! Show yourse** -lf?"

"RED!"

She looked down the street to her left and saw a familiar young boy in a black shirt (that was too big for him) and blue jean shorts running towards her.

"AH! I remember you, you little thief. What do you-"

"Please!" He ran up as she put Crescent Rose away and skidded to a stop in front of her. He was panting and soaked in sweat, and as he looked up to her she could see his eyes were pleading and panicked. "I need your help!"

"Huh!?"

"Please! my sister is in trouble!" He huffed out. Ruby narrowed her eyes at him as she remembered the last time she saw him.

"And why should I believe you after you tried to steal my baby! For all I know you're just lying so that you can steal it again!"

The boy took a deep breath as his breathing finally began to steady. "No, please. Really, my sister is being held at Honnoji...it's that boxing guy!"

Ruby froze. Fukuroda Takaharu was holding someone hostage? "How do you know about this?"

"She didn't come home after school today, so I went to go see what happened! She's been captured by a guy with a big boxing glove who was screaming about a transfer student and a girl in a red hood! I recognized who he was talking about and came to try and find you!"

Ruby sighed. "So he's using a hostage to get to me…"

She could tell from the moment that she saw Takaharu beating up Ryuko without a hint of mercy he wasn't going to be the friendliest person she would meet. But to think he would use a hostage...Honnoji was starting to get worse and worse with each minute she spent around the place.

She looked down at the boy with a sorry expression. "What's the name of your sister?"

"Mako Mankanshoku!"

She blinked. "Who?

"Mako Mankanshoku, that's my sister's name."

"Mako...Mako!?"

She had forgotten completely about Mako. She had left her back at the school when she went to go search for Ryuko. If she was captured and used as a hostage against her…

"Darn it!" She grabbed onto the boy, who blinked in shock from suddenly being picked up. She ran down one alley until she was out in the open, where she turned towards Honnoji Academy. "Do you suffer from motion sickness!?"

"I've never ridden in a vehicle before."

"It'll have to do, **hold on!** "

Using her semblance, she bolted forward in a burst of speed towards Honnoji Academy. She didn't know if she could save Mako in her current state, and she didn't care-she would save her even if she was nothing but mush afterward!

* * *

" **Transfer student, Red Riding Hood, can you hear me! One hour from now, the execution of your best friend will be carried out on Honnoji grounds, as shared punishment for treason!"** Fukuroda Takaharu yelled into the microphone. The message he sent out was being broadcast throughout the entire school and the entire city for everyone to hear. Even if they wasn't in the city, either would definitely hear him even if they were on the outskirts of town.

" **You want to stop it! Then get off your asses and show yourself!"** He yelled out.

A small crowd was gathering around the ring placed in the center of the Honnoji Academy field. In the ring stood Takaharu, Athletic Committee chair Sanageyama, and-hung upside down in an x-crossed restraint-was Mako Mankanshoku.

Sanageyama glanced down at Takaharu. "A hostage situation...certainly a classic strategy."

"It's my only chance...Mankanshoku was the only one that spoke to those two girls before they escaped, and if I fail again I can kiss my Goku Uniform goodbye...failure is not an option for me here."

"No, no it isn't...All right, then? Show me a man's resolve out there and beat them to a pulp!"

"Yes Sir!"

"AHH! Someone help, my panties are showing! They're not even my sexy pair today!"

The two of them looked at her confoundedly. Sanageyama sighed and planted his face in his hand, while Takaharu turned to a pair of large red doors. " **Bring out the boiler!"**

* * *

She skidded to a stop behind the massive crowd gathered in front of the gate, dropping the boy as she did. He quickly conked his noggin on the ground, before shaking it side to side...and then puking afterward.

"R-Right...I have m- **mmm** -motion sickness…"

Ruby ignored him as she started walking forward. The crowd was packed into the gateway like a bunch of birds gathered around food, and she couldn't see what was happening beyond them.

 _There's got to be another way…_

As she tried to figure out a way through, the boy walked slowly up behind her-somewhat sick and disoriented but otherwise fine. He was about to speak up when he noticed a motorbike sitting against the wall. Stuck to it with a piece of tape was a note: _My deepest apologies for borrowing without permission._

"There's a bike…"

Ruby glanced back at him. "A bike?" She looked in the very same direction...and nearly face-faulted. _Ryuko's here!_

She walked over to the bike, looking it over. It didn't seem like much at a glance...until she noticed the horn.

"Is there some way we can have this honking constantly?"

"Yep, let me have a look at it."

"Perfect...wait, I thought you said you never rode on a vehicle before?"

"I didn't, I stole their tires!"

"Ah...That's why…" She made a mental note to never bring this kid close to Yang's bike if she ever saw her again. "Just make it happen, we don't have much time!"

* * *

" **Look!"** Takaharu stepped close to the boiler with a lobster in hand. Everyone watching was wondering why he was holding a shrimp when he decided to dip it in...and pulled out fried shrimp.

"Fried shrimp!"

"That's Oil!"

"NOOO! If I get that much oil on my uniform, everyone will see me naked from now on! Someone save me!"

Sanageyama looked at her dumbfounded. "Seems like she _also_ has resolve...or she's just a massive idiot...either is fine…"

Takaharu tossed the shrimp away. " **Well, are you gonna show yourselves now!"**

As if in response, a loud honking sound went off at the gate, which Takaharu shot a look in the direction of. If it was just a horn going off, he would've left it alone on the basis that someone simply let it slip...if not for the fact that the honk went on...and on. He turned to a One-Star, "Go and check that out."

The One-Star nodded and moved towards the crowd. "Move!"

* * *

It wasn't long before the crowd parted and a One-Star walked through to the other side. Ruby took this chance and dived through the newly made hole of people, the boy following closely behind.

She quickly made her way through the crowd-moving through bodies of students as she inched closer to the ring. When she was close enough to see what was happening, her eyes went wide. Mako was hanging upside down over a pile of flower, and under the flower was a large glass vat over a heater. While she wasn't quick to make assumptions, the sickly yellowish color of the liquid told her that it was definitely oil.

 _They're going to boil her alive!?_

The boy walked in behind her and instantly saw it too. "Sis! Hang in there, I'm comin-" He started walking forward...only to be stopped by Ruby.

"You need to wait here, this is dangerous…"

"But my sister-"

"I'll deal with it, you just wait here."

"But what can you do!?"

He was right, she was pretty much running on fumes now, and it was a miracle she could even stand. What could...wait…

She saw it-saw _her_. She was crouching down, limiting her visibility among the crowd as much as possible. Dressed in a long, torn, and hooded cloak that covered her up completely. She almost could've missed her sitting right next to her...if it wasn't for the flash of a red highlight pop out under the hood…

...She glanced in her direction-a single blue eye-with a look that said only one thing: _I'm ready when you are._

" **Well, what the hell was it!?"**

"The horn on a bike was malfunctioning!" The One-Star definitely found out about the ruse-it was now or never.

"I'll go up there."

"What!?" The boy asked dumbstruck. Up on the stage, Takaharu looked throughout the crowd for any sign of the two before yelling into his microphone. " **Like that's gonna fool me! Show yourselves, you cowards!"**

"I'm **right here!** "

The field went silent, and every eye in the stadium turned their attention right onto Ruby Rose. She glanced at all of the students, who slowly parted to give her a way toward the ring. She took a deep breath...hopefully this works…

She crawled onto the walkway to the ring, standing up and walking towards the boxer.

" **Well, you finally showed up! I was beginning to think you chickened out Red Riding Hood!"**

She continued walking forward. "Here I am...here to rescue Mako...all while being completely spent...whew…" The last few words she said with a chuckle...which, as she thought it would, irritated Takaharu...before he smiled.

" **What was that? You're exhausted! Perfect, I can beat you up without a problem!?"** He started forward, beginning to raise his fist.

"Wait-wait, wait...before you do that, I just have to ask...do you know about Dust?"

Takaharu blinked at her. "What?"

"Do you know about Dust?" He stared at her like she was a moron.

"Of course I know what dust is, it floats around in the air, gathers itself on things after a specific amount of time, and-"

"-No, no, no-not that kind of dust, I'm talking about Dust…"

Takaharu's expression got more confused by the second. "There's no differe-"

"Yes there is, I'm talking about...oh, where is it…"

She reached into her side pouch, and pulled out a red crystal. "THIS Dust!" Everyone stared at the red crystal in her hand, slightly confused but subtly intrigued.

"Dust-as it's called-is a naturally occurring resource found within the Earth, that reacts to the "Aura" found within humans. It comes in multiple forms-one sec…" She pulled out a blue crystal "...and has multiple types with widely different properties!"

Takaharu stared at her incredulously. "THOSE are just crystals, that isn't dust…"

"Yes it is…"

"No they aren't."

"Yes, they are, I can give an example!"

"An example...an example of making yourself looking like an ass?"

"A demonstration!"

Takaharu rolled his eyes. "A demonstration…"

"Uh-huh…"

Takaharu started chuckling. "Fine, give your demonstration, then afterwards **I can beat your head in!** "

Up above on the highest perch of the school, Satsuki closed her eyes in disappointment. "Idiot."

The boy was equally in disbelief...just for the exact opposite person. "What is she doing up there, trying to get herself killed!" He started making his way up, only for a hand to grab his wrist. He turned, and saw the hooded figure.

Back up on the stage Ruby smiled, put the red and blue crystal away, and pulled out a white canister. "This is the powdered form of Dust. Now Dust is known to be highly volatile, so it's often said that you should be very careful with it. But when you open and shake it-" She started shaking it wildly. Takaharu-having not caught on yet-stared at her blankly as she finished shaking the canister-leaving a large cloud of white powder in the air.

"Now you see, when it makes contact with air, it-ahh...uhhh" She started rubbing her nose. Takaharu raised an eyebrow as she tried to focus on him.

"Just give me-ahh-minute. My sinuses…"

Takaharu seriously couldn't care less, he just wanted her to be done so he could finish his job. But what he didn't realize was just _what_ Ruby was really doing…

It had happened so long ago that she had nearly forgotten about it. Then she remembered that day with Weiss on the grounds of Beacon when she waved that canister in her face. Her sinuses started reacting more and more to the Dust until she couldn't take it. She slowly drifted back, her head building up...and then she sneezed.

The stage promptly exploded as steam burst out from out of nowhere, quickly spreading out from the stage and into the crowd. Everyone-including Takaharu-quickly reeled back and took cover, and the area descended into chaos within seconds.

It was the perfect distraction for Ryuko Matoi. She rushed for Mako, bashing several One-Star students along the way with her scissor blade. When she reached the last one in a large row of them she jumped and planted her boot-now heeled-straight into his face as she used him as a stepping stone. Finally, she landed over Mako, cutting one of the restraints at the same time.

"Ryuko!"

"Hold on tight!"

She leaped with the girl in hand, flying through the air for several meters before finally landing-right in the center of the large ring.

The steam began to clear, and Takaharu looked back at the ring, finally taking notice of the new arrival. He whipped his head back to Ruby...only to find nothing there. He turned back towards Ryuko and found the both of them there, one standing in the ring while the other was on the chain ropes, breathing heavily.

He was almost sure he would have an aneurysm at this rate. He grit his teeth and started stomping towards the ring. " **That's it. I've had enough of your little games, you little red riding bitch. I'm gonna make sure you're nothing but a red paste on the floor when I'm done…"**

She looked back at him, and instantly scrambled through the ropes, crawling to the other side so quickly that even Mako, who seemed to be phased by nothing, was a little freaked out.

"Oi, you okay?" Ryuko asked.

"I'm fine...I just...just need a timeout is all…"

Ryuko smirked. "Fine by me. I've been wanting to get back at this beltway pansy."

Ruby looked at Ryuko. At a glance, there wasn't really much beyond general change in clothes that was changed about her. However, Ruby could see that something about her was...off, like the atmosphere around her had grown twice as dense. She looked down at her feet-which had gone from white sneakers to...heels?

Before she could think on it more, Takaharu entered the ring. He gave her a malicious glare before turning to Ryuko. " **So the transfer student finally shows herself huh?"**

"You're damn right, I showed! Who wouldn't show up to someone playing dirty with a hostage!" She twirled the scissor blade around her wrist and pointed it towards him. "If you're supposed to be a boxer, then take me on one on one!"

The veins around his head bulged, before he started to chuckle. " **I didn't sign you up as a crew member, but if you wish-I'll throttle you into next week!"**

The bell ringed, bringing Ruby back into reality as she crawled under the chain ropes and gripped onto the turnbuckle. Just in time too, as Takaharu was the first to strike, flinging his left towards Ryuko. The glove burst to life, sending a barrage of fists flying towards her.

"Ryuko, dodge!" She yelled out, but it was too late. The flurry of fists seemed to consume her, flying all over and slamming into her body. Ruby gripped the turnbuckle tighter as the ring started to overflow with the gloves. This was too much...there had to be something she could-

"-Is this all you got?"

The center exploded, sending several gloves out into the crowd in the process. Ryuko stood in the middle-her scissor blade drawn-as she stared down Takaharu. His face contorted in rage as he charged her. " **You wish! Let's see how long you keep that cocky disposition when I send you flying-"** His larger right glove shot forward, spinning like a drill.

" **-Tek! Ken! Fun! Sai!"**

His fist slammed into her scissor blade...as well as her makeshift coat, which turned to shreds and revealed what was underneath…

...The crowd went wild at the sight, and Ruby reeled back in shock-her face turning the shade of an actual ruby gem. Ryuko's "outfit" consisted of a large top made in the shape of the typical school uniform here...except it was nothing _but_ the top. The rest-from under her breasts to the half-skirt-half-thong/underwear that barely covered up her lower half. The top wrapped around her arms with square braces around her wrists, while her legs were covered with thigh high heeled boots. In the back was what seemed to be an exhaust, while on the front a pair of horn-like protrusions (that strangely seemed like an eye and an eyepatch for some strange reason) stuck out front. Oh, and to finish it all up, every part of the outfit was connected by _suspenders_...how did it all stick together!?

Ruby flipped, and judging by the reaction Takaharu was having...she wasn't alone…

"Wh-wha- **what kind of outfit is that!?** "

"Quit staring!"

"R-Ryuko, please put some actual clothes on!" Ruby blathered out.

"You stay quiet, over there!"

"You... **You're using your feminine wiles to distract me!** "

"Do I look like I'm enjoying how I look!"

"Then why are you wearing it in the first place!?"

" **Shut it, over there!"**

" **You dare mock boxing-mock ALL OF SPORTS!"**

" **I AM NOT!"**

Takaharu jumped away. He was really done with all of this. "Fine then, show off yourself to the world. I'll undress myself as well in this case..."

Ruby squeaked from the corner turnbuckle. " **Please, no! Don't take your pants off!"**

" **Yeah! Now you're the one mocking it!"**

" **That's not what I meant!"**

" **I wasn't talking about that!"**

As a small argument broke out between the two girls, the sound of a chain breaking silenced them as they turned back towards Takaharu. The largest glove he had its outer coat fall off, revealing an equally large, more solid glove that Ruby could only compare to a meat tenderizer of all things. He grinned wildly as he shot the large glove up for all to see.

" **Behold! And lay witness to your doom, transfer student! These are the real Honnoji Academy Boxing Club Athleticism-Augmenting Two Star Gloves! Students from other schools would flee in terror at the sight of this, hence why I wore a soft glove over it! But finally showing them off is making my chest well-up with unbridled strength! This. IS. A. GOKU UNIFORM!"**

The entire crowd went silent, and Ruby's eye twitched slightly. "People would flee just from seeing how large it is in the first place…"

"What she said…" Ryuko nodded toward Ruby. "...I don't even know how boxing works, and even I can see that's completely illegal...but…"

She smirked. "...Bring it on."

The bell ringed, and Takaharu charged forward. " **I don't know what was hidden under that coat, and I care even less! But since you're half naked, I'll punch you so hard that little fabric you have left's gonna go bye-bye! TEK! KEN! FUN! SAI!"**

His fist flew directly for her. Ruby, at this point would've screamed out for her to dodge, if not for the strange feeling that Ryuko would be completely fine. She simply watched as Takaharu's fist connected...and the unthinkable happened…

...Many would've more or less expected Ryuko's "clothes" to disintegrate on impact and have her go flying…

...Something did disintegrate on impact: Takaharu's glove, to be more specific.

Everyone's jaw dropped, especially Ruby's, as various shards of glove fell to the ground. Takaharu looked at the sight in utter disbelief, as his glove turned to pieces while Ryuko's outfit-surprisingly-had nary a scratch on it.

"H-How? My glove."

"Whew...that was a _close one._ " She patted down on her "outfit" and rubbed the dust off her shoulder before looking at Takaharu with a large grin on her face. "Now it's **my turn!** "

It was then that Ruby noticed the risque costume constrict itself around Ryuko, getting tighter as steam burst out. Then the red started to notably change, glowing a brighter shade of red as is spread across anything crimson on her clothes.

Then it happened. Ruby was real glad her semblance was speed, and that she had very good eyesight, because as soon as the suit finished, Ryuko shot to the left, then behind Takaharu, then right for him. He could only glance in her direction before the scissor blade handle slammed right into his cheek. He went rolling, finally skidding to a stop feet first...just in front of Ruby. She blinked, then both smiled and waved meekly. Takaharu's reaction was much different. "Y-Y- **You!** "

"Where do you think you're looking, asshat." He couldn't respond as Ryuko grabbed the back of his coat, threw him up in the air, and brought her scissor down in a singular motion-driving Takaharu straight into the ground. He bounced at least once before landing on the ground feet first once again...though this time, Ryuko was hoping for that to exactly happen…

"Have a right hook" She spun the blade, jabbing it straight into his side-a move that nearly everyone, Ruby included, cringed at. She followed it up by circling around and slamming the blade into his abdomen. As Takaharu struggled not to double over from the pain, Ryuko dropped the blade of her weapon right in front of him…

"Now an uppercut!" He went flying into the air, flying a good foot before landing...right on his face. Like the last time, he bounced, and Ryuko smirked as she started spinning the blade again on her wrist. "And finally! **a right straight to finish you off!** "

 **{SENI-SOSHITSU!}**

It flashed so fast that barely anyone saw it happen. A simple swing from Ryuko, and Takaharu-who was otherwise spinning in the air-suddenly had his clothes burst off, rendering him utterly naked (save for a small cup-like part to cover him "there").

This generated several responses from everyone watching. Ruby-despite having an incredibly flushed face-stared at the sight in awe as she yelled "She won!" Ryuko had defeated Takaharu...meaning she just defeated a Two-Star!

In the large crowd, Mako was equally in awe. "AWESOME, You did it, Ryuko! You took him straight to town with your boxing skills, SO COOL!"

Her younger brother looked at her with a deadpan expression. "I don't think she knows how to box…"

To the side, Sanageyama's jaw dropped. "Impossible!" He had seen many sights at the school, but nothing like an entire Two-Star uniform disappearing! Just how strong was that scissor blade!

Up on their perch, the rest of the Elite Four reacted appropriately. Gamagoori and Jakuzure both reacted to the destruction with shock. "A Goku Uniform was defeated!"

Standing next to them, Inumuta was the only one to remain composed. "So that's how powerful the scissor blade is, huh?" Satsuki's eyes glanced over before turning back to the fight and noticing something that would typically be incredibly difficult to spot. A single red thread sailing away from Takaharu's destroyed uniform and straight into Ryuko's.

"No...There's something else entirely going on." She looked over at the other girl standing on the turnbuckle and noticed that Ruby seemed to see it as well.

Before she could think harder on how Ruby was capable of seeing _that_ small thread. A voice rang out below…

" **-Now to finish you off!** "

Ryuko took a swing at Takaharu, dragging him through the air with her scissor blade before flinging him straight into the air...right towards Satsuki.

He would've made it too...if not for Gamagoori's hand to startlingly grow several sizes bigger, reach out, and stop Takaharu mid-flight.

Down on the ground, Sanageyama saw it happen so quickly that his jaw was still open in shock. Shaking himself back into reality, he turned to the ring and started to climb in. "How dare you!"

"Enough!" He stopped and turned back to Satsuki. Ruby took this chance to walk into the ring, getting a small glance from Ryuko.

Up above, Satsuki stared at the girl who defeated one of her Two-Star's. "You there. Where did you get your hands on that outfit."

Ryuko stood silent for a second, before kicking Takaharu's microphone into her hands. "This is a keepsake from my father…"

Ruby looked at the outfit with a flushed face. Something like _that_ was a keepsake? Her dad must've been a big super-pervert or something…

Ryuko continued. "...And this scissor blade was left behind by the person who killed him. Now you're going to tell me...who this scissor blade belongs to... **Satsuki Kiryuin!** " The last word was delivered with a fair amount of venom. Ruby gulped down some air-she really didn't want to cross this girl…

...Speaking of Ryuko, though she had barely noticed, she seemed to be struggling with her words, and as she could see more closely Ryuko was getting more and more caked in sweat.

Satsuki narrowed her eyes. "You said your name is Ryuko Matoi? You're Isshin Matoi's father?"

"You know who my father is!?" Ryuko's face contorted to an expression of anger. But before she could even respond herself, she realized that she felt absolutely drained and fell to her knees…

"Ryuko!" Ruby called out. Ryuko looked down at her outfit.

{You're bleeding too much, Ryuko.}

"I thought you wanted blood."

{At this rate of blood loss, you will lose consciousness within half a minute.}

"Don't act so calm about it all!" Ryuko yelled at him, startling Ruby before she got one final glance at Satsuki and the girl right by her side and felt her world fade to black.

"Ryuko!" Ruby grabbed her, keeping her from falling down onto her face. "What's wrong, Ryuko!"

"She's fallen unconscious from blood loss..." Ruby looked up to see that it was Satsuki who answered her. She looked down at the two with still narrowed eyes…

"Ryuko Matoi is unconscious, and from what I see, you've driven yourself to exhaustion...If you let me capture Ryuko Matoi now, I will disregard your previous incidents and allow you to attend Honnoji Academy without question…" The Elite Four looked at her in silent shock-Satsuki Kiryuin was offering a _choice_ with someone!?

"...However, if you try to escape today, then I will consider you an enemy of my rule...which is it you will choose?"

Ruby paused and looked down at the girl in her arms. She remembered the last day-when she walked under the gates, saw the body of that student strung up above it. Remembered that Ryuko was the only one she saw here that rebelled against the brutal system they established. She lost the first time, so she helped her, then she came back stronger, and needed her help again…

...It floated in her mind, gnawing at her. She could just walk away-try to find a way back home and just leave this place for good...but she could tell what she would do, she didn't even needed to be coerced into it, it had already made it clear.

She looked back up at Satsuki. "You think you can keep up?"

Sanageyama took those words at face value, as he instantly jumped over the top rope with a drawn shinai. He brought it down toward Ruby...only to hit the ring as both her and Ryuko disappeared in a burst of rose petals. His eyes widened-he couldn't even follow her, just how fast was this girl!?

He grit his teeth. "After them! Don't let them get away!"

"Don't bother." A bright light blazed outward, forcing Sanageyama to cover his eyes as he turned to Satsuki above. "One or both of them will be back. We'll deal with them later." She turned and walked away from the edge of the perch.

Sanageyama sighed as he lowered his arm. "Lady Satsuki...dazzling as always." He started back for the school...until he saw something in the ring-buried under a piece of rubble, and almost easy to miss if not for the green glint it gave off.

He walked over and pulled it out, holding it up for a better look. "...She called it "Dust," huh?" He pocketed the green Dust crystal as he turned, gave a final look at the gate, then walked back toward the school.

* * *

"Your tea, miss." Her faithful butler Mitsuzo Soroi said as he poured her a cup of tea. She took a sip of the drink...and smiled to herself.

"A girl in a Kamui, and another more mysterious girl...This is sure to be an _interesting_ year…"

Quietly, she took another sip of tea...her thoughts on the past few days going through her mind endlessly.

* * *

Off, far away from Honnoji Academy. A man rode down a highway on his fully customized bike. He felt his phone vibrate, and upon pulling it out he closely read the text sent to him.

" _Isshin Matoi's daughter found. Has kamui, will continue to observe."_

His brow furrowed. Quickly he pocketed his phone and spun the bike around. His destination had changed: Honnoji Academy.

"Finally…"

* * *

 **OH MY GOD, I FINISHED IT IN UNDER A WEEK OF STARTING THE FIRST, HELL YES, GTFO!**

 ***ahem* Ignore that little add-in right there...just-just forget it existed...yep.**

 **So here we are, the second chapter! I don't know how it can be viewed in comparison to the first-but hey, I actually managed to write the second chapter to a RWBY/Kill la Kill Fic! There's something for me to be happy about!**

 **So here's the gist of this chapter. I started writing it AS SOON as I was finished writing Ch. 1, and by the time I released Ch. 1, I was finished with this one beyond just writing this part right here (hello!). As such, I was kinda waiting to see who was going to read the first chapter before continuing on with this, and lo and behold it's Wednesday morning and I'm checking back frequently to see it go up...and up...and up…**

 **I'll be honest. Considering that Kill la Kill only sits at 600+ fics, and only four (excluding this one) fics crossover with RWBY, I didn't think it would really have that many people who would read this-even more so since it was released in the dead of night. So seeing that it has at least above a hundred views is somewhat of a pleasant surprise!**

 **...Of course, it's entirely possible that it's just readers of my previous attempts at fan fics that read it (sorry)...still pleasant surprise nonetheless!**

 **SO, getting down to the nitty gritty of things, first it was Ruby's turn, now it's Ryuko's! What with the fact that the Ryuko VS Takaharu makes up the latter half of KLK ep. 1, I wouldn't find it much that surprising. However, to try and make it interesting I did try to make it** _ **slightly**_ **different.**

 **I also tried my hand at a bit of comedy...I think? Is it funny? I can't really tell myself, so it's often why I ask for reviews, to see if I'm doing something properly or sucking at it. But I still couldn't help myself nonetheless-Ruby playing distraction by trying to fuck around with Takaharu through an explanation of Dust I thought was funny in my mind.**

 **You may have also noted several things that point to stuff** _ **before**_ **the beginning of the first chapter (How can Mataro know about Ruby already!? Letter, WHAT LETTER!?). It's a pretty clear indication that Ruby got here** _ **somehow**_ **, which leads to one of the big mysteries of the story: "How did Ruby get to the KLK Universe, and how does she return home?" I like to think that us trying to think about and look back on how she does get there is the most entertaining thing to think about-How** _ **did**_ **she get there? Did the Doctor wist her off to there so she could essentially run interference for the antagonists...** _ **maybe...**_ **Nahh! It's actually much more mundane (though how it works is a little complex)...**

 **Now, with this chapter we finally finish with Fukuroda Takaharu and move on to Omiko Hakodate. The next fight will definitely be Ryuko-centric (sorry, Ruby), because if I had to be honest (again)-how the hell would you fit Ruby into a tennis match when she's more suited to her scythe!? That's something I actually wonder (and if you'd like to leave a suggestion then feel free to do so) but just can't find an answer to…**

 **...On that note, the next fight is** _ **technically**_ **the fourth chapter, and since we're going to the third one, then I'll tell you that I will write chapter three with the intent to add more characterization to Ruby and Ryuko (as well as a few other characters) and to keep the focus on either Ruby or** _ **both**_ **if at all possible to balance it all out.**

 **Does that mean Chapter 3 will be longer...** _ **maybe.**_ **I use Google Drive to write down the stories, then copy and paste them for , and usually, when writing them down I try to keep it around twenty pages of writing. However, I plan to write as much as I need down to keep it nice and lovely, and so that may mean I'll write more for the next chapter than I have before…**

 **Finally, as I've said before, the first two chapters here are oddly named in comparison to the rest of the storyline. This one is based off of the main leitmotif heard in Kill la Kill (Before My Body is Dry), however, instead of the title I used what's essentially the most known lyric in the song-hence why this chapter is named "Don't Lose Your Way!" (and hey, I said there would be exceptions from time to time, and I couldn't help with the fact that this rhymes with the last chapter title).**

 **And so, with all that, we end chapter 3. Thank you for reading, and as always-PLEASE REVIEW! They are always welcome, as are some fav's and follows if you want to. With this, I'll see you in chapter three...oh! And by the way…**

 **Chapter 3: I really had a blackout, baby!**

 **For Fun, Fedora's, and Insanity...PEACE!**

 **-CrazeStasis**


	3. Chapter 3: Blackout

**NOTE: I do not own either RWBY or Kill la Kill. RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth, and Kill la Kill belongs to studio TRIGGER…**

* * *

 _Stay conscious, Stay conscious, Stay conscious…_

The tram finally came to a stop at the shantytowns of Honnoji. Ruby stepped out with an unconscious Ryuko wrapped within her arms and promptly collapsed as soon as her foot hit the concrete.

She breathed heavily. She was _definitely_ too exhausted to move properly, that little escape from Satsuki certainly made sure of that! She pushed herself up slightly to see how Ryuko was doing...which wasn't much better from Ruby herself. Her face was flushed, but not in a way that indicated embarrassment but rather blood loss. Plus her body was also covered in a fine cover of sweat-which she managed to find out _first hand_ as her sleeves and side were covered in it.

 _Stay conscious, Stay conscious, Stay conscious…_

She looked at Ryuko more closely. A pair of horn-like hair pins protruded out of the front, and the entire underside of her hair was the same vivid red as the highlight already in her hair. Her eyes shifted lower to just above her chest-right on the strange front guard that as far as she could tell, looked like an eyeball.

The guard stayed completely still, not moving a single inch from where it was "staring." Ruby thought back to just before escaping Honnoji-when she heard Ryuko talking to herself...or was she?

 _Stay conscious, Stay conscious, Stay conscious…_

"Does this thing talk?" She said out loud. The outfit still didn't move-not blinking, not correcting itself to have her in its line of sight, nothing. However, in a rather strange miracle, _it_ did slip up. { I highly doubt you can hear me, no one other than Ryuko can hear me…}

"I can hear you clearly…"

{WHAT!?} The eyeball guard shot up close to her face, causing her to reel back and nearly fall down three steps of stairs. The eyeball stared at her, looking her up and down, before it narrowed in suspicion. {Prove it…}

"Only Ryuko can hear you, huh?" She said nonchalantly. This time it was the eyeball that reeled back as it looked at her in wide eyed shock. {You really can hear me!?}

"What are you doing to her?"

{Huh?} The tone of voice it used indicated confusion. Ruby sighed as her cheeks started to turn red. "You know what I mean...W-W-" She struggled with the words as her embarrassment grew more and more. "-What are you doing to Ryuko? Why is she losing blood? Why could she shrug off Takaharu like he was a fly? And why…" Her mind was scrambling as she looked down even further, around Ryuko's open abdomen. "...W-w-Why is she...dr-dressed like this?"

The eyeball seemed to relax as she heard a sigh come from it. {...I see, you're confused to my nature...My name is Senketsu, and I don't know what I am…}

"You don't know?" She couldn't really believe it...it remembered it's own name at least, but nothing else?

Senketsu blinked. {...Yes, I have, what do you call them again...gaps in my memory. All I know is that I grant power to Ryuko whenever I am worn by her and drink her blood, and that I was made by her father.}

"...And the appearance?" She _really_ couldn't help it, it was incredibly embarrassing to look at. Once again the Kamui sighed as it started to explain. {I do not know why this is my appearance, all I know is that Isshin Matoi made me this way…}

"He sounds incredibly perverted…" She said. Not that she could really talk, considering her dad had relationships with both her mom and Yang's...and don't even get her started on uncle Qrow. She stared at him as another question came to mind. "Do you have a transformation or something, can you stop drinking Ryuko's blood?"

{Yes, I can transform back, but I can't…}

"Huh, but you just said-"

{I **can** transform back, but we're in the middle of a small town with several dangers prowling the streets. I can't protect my wearer if I transform back, and so until we move to a safer area or have sufficient protection, I cannot transform back.}

Oh...well that explained a lot! She let out a deep breath. It seemed this "Senketsu" wasn't exactly as bad as she made it out to be. All it wanted to do was protect Ryuko, and so it had hit a dilemma-protect Ryuko and risk draining her dry, or power down and leave her to the masses...She had seen another, somewhat similar dilemma before with her teammate Blake, who just wanted equality between humans and Faunus while feeling conflicted over the White Fang…

She smiled. "I don't think any of the residents are _that_ bad. Thieves some of them may be, I doubt they would-"

"Hey look! a nearly naked chick!"

"-And I instantly take that back!" She looked up at the three boys who walked up the stairs-their eyes focused completely on the half nude Ryuko as they looked at her with lustful stares…

For a rare moment, Ruby felt a wave of irritation wash over her. She stood up and smiled…

"Hey, boys!" They blinked and looked at her with confused expressions as she reached behind her and pulled out Crescent Rose. At a safe distance from the three, she extended it out to it's full scythe form-earning her several looks of terror, and Senketsu's eye going wide at the sight of the weapon. She continued to smile even as her eye twitched. "Please, leave... **now.** "

"Uh...Let's go! We saw nothing, we saw absolutely nothing, we swear…" The boys quickly turned around and ran away from them. Ruby brought the weapon down from over her head and back onto her waist. Senketsu blinked...that weapon…

{That weapon of yours is impressive. Perhaps I don't need to be in this form after all.}

Ruby didn't answer, simply standing there. He looked at her and noticed that her breathing was notably harder and easily visible. {Hey, you okay?}

His answer came as Ruby stumbled forward. His eye went wide as he saw her fall forward and landed on top of Ryuko. {Oi! What's wrong, are you injured, or did someone-}

"...Sorry...I'm just exhausted is all...just give me some...some time for a nap…"

{Hey! Seriously! What's wrong!}

"...You keep Ryuko safe...don't worry about...me…"

{Hey, stay awake! Are you gonna be okay afterward! Do you hear me-oh, what's your name again-Ruby! Your name is Ruby!? Stay awake, Ruby! Ruby! **Ruby!** } He kept screaming for her to stay awake. But it proved in vain as Ruby's world faded to black, and she fell unconscious…

* * *

"Inumuta, any new information on Ruby Rose?"

Satsuki sat in her chair of the Student Council chambers with a cup of tea in her lap. Currently, all but one of the Elite Four were doing their regular duties throughout the school grounds, finishing up any loose ends that were caught on Ryuko defeating Takaharu. Inumuta, however, stood in front of her-a look of disappointment spread across his face.

"I'm afraid not, Lady Satsuki…" his eyes closed as he continued speaking. "...I've looked up every bit of information I could find-contacts, school records around the world, even many parts of the internet. Nothing came up as the same Ruby Rose attending our school…"

"Are you sure?" Inumuta was the best out of everyone in the school to gather information. Not even the rest of the Elite Four could come close to the technological advantage at the fingertips of Houka Inumuta. Which was why she was doubting his words right now...there had to be something about her?

Unfortunately, Inumuta nodded. "She's like a ghost, Lady Satsuki. Whoever this girl-Ruby Rose-is, she just doesn't exist in this world."

Satsuki's eyes narrowed. "So are you implying that she is a spy of some sort?"

"Not exactly...It's highly unlikely that someone would properly have the last name Rose and subsequently name her Ruby, but the girl seems incredibly attached to her name anyway. If I could throw out a theory of mine...It's quite possible that she's working under the orders of someone else...someone you _personally_ know…"

For a second her rage flared inside, and she grimaced. "...Mother…"

"-Excuse me for the audacious idea, M'lady-"

"It's fine, Inumuta. However, I will have to disagree with you on it...My mother would never associate with someone who goes out of their way to save another...that leaves only one other subject."

Inumuta sighed as he realized who she was talking about. "...Nudist Beach."

Satsuki took another sip from her tea and looked straight into Inumuta's eyes. "Gather all of your info on Nudist Beach by tomorrow...it's time we start keeping a closer eye on these heretics."

"Yes, M'lady!" He bowed, and at her dismissal walked out of the room. She sat there in silence, thinking over the meeting, the days before, and what she did learn over that time…

Who was Ruby Rose? She could figure out most facts from simply watching her already-she could move at incredible speeds, so fast that she could disappear in the blink of an eye, leaving only rose petals in her wake. She owned a red, mechanical scythe combined with a sniper rifle that she named Crescent Rose, and seemed attached to it like a mother and her child. She used a special type of material never before seen or heard of called "Dust" for certain things like combat. She could even take several hits from a Two-Star without a Kamui and still seem physically fine, even though Matoi took a similar beating and could barely stand afterward. Yet, all these answers gave her new questions that she couldn't figure out without going at the girl's own pace. She was truly, in the strangest way, an enigma wrapped in a conundrum…

In a way, it all seemed to match. Everything she could piece together told her that Ruby was a spy for her mother-brought here to make sure she was keeping in line with her standards. Yet one thing always made the argument fall apart: her altruistic behavior towards others. Snarky she may be towards her and those under her control from time to time, she never directly challenged others unless they were harming another. She helped Matoi both times in her most dire hours, and the Mankanshoku girl at hers-even doing so as she was exhausted to the point of collapse. Her mother would find someone like Ruby Rose an abhorrence to her and the world, and would certainly do everything in her power to make sure she disappeared...or was found dead in a street gutter.

So who? Who was Ruby Rose? And who was she associated with? These were questions that she needed answered, one way or another.

That didn't even go into the other questions she had. She could wield a scythe as well as Satsuki herself could wield her prized sword, so she must've had someone to train her with such a dangerous weapon-yet all she had was someone named "Crow," who proved to be just as much an elusive figure as Ruby herself. Her speed too, how can a human move at such impossible speeds without wearing a Goku Uniform...it was downright impossible for any human to move like that, yet Ruby showed off this ability like it was another Tuesday! What was it? Some inner ability that anybody could master with proper training...it was highly unlikely.

The image of Ruby popped into her head. The black, red tipped hair. The silver eyes, and almost innocent look in her eyes. It was almost ethereal, like she had stepped out of a fairy tale of sorts. It would've certainly gone with her "Red-Riding Hood-like" appearance at the very least…

The thoughts swam in her head endlessly...until she heard a familiar voice call her name…

"Lady Satsuki." She opened her eyes at Sanageyama, who's serious expression was-in her book-rather surprising.

"I don't remember calling for your presence, Sanageyama."

"I let myself through the door…"

"As I can clearly see...what do you want…"

Sanageyama smiled. "Well, I don't really mean to be much of a bother to you, M'lady, but if I could say something for just a minute…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, green crystal. "...Then I must say that it fits my hair rather well, wouldn't you agree?"

Satsuki eyed the green crystal-the very same type of crystal that Ruby Rose called "Dust"-and smiled. Perhaps there was a silver lining to all of this after all…

* * *

 **Crimson Incandescence.**

 **Chapter 3: Blackout.**

* * *

The sound of heavy breathing was what woke Ruby up first. Her eyes cracked open as she started to wake, and she soon started to take in what she could see.

She definitely wasn't outside anymore, that was for sure. An unfamiliar wall graced her sight, slightly torn, old and weathered over several years. The light that was starting to dim as the sun went down was suddenly much more brighter than before, and it took her eyes some adjusting to get used to it. She moved her head to look up-she felt like she was laying down with someone else, and as she could slightly see, it seemed like her head was resting on a sleeping Ryuko's arm.

"...Ryuko." She said it softly, barely audible to anyone else. Yet, the girl seemed to hear it perfectly-shifting slightly as her eyes started to open as well.

Ruby felt like smiling, until she remembered that she heard heavy breathing as she woke up. Her eye looked up towards the ceiling...and she nearly jumped out of her skin in response.

To say this man was heavy set was an understatement. It seemed entirely possible you could roll him down the street like a ball and there wouldn't be a single problem for him at all. His hair was slicked back, and his massive eyebrows (that were shaped strangely like sushi) hung over a pair of glasses that she couldn't see past thanks to the light. His mouth was breathing in and out, showing a row of strangely rounded teeth. To add it all up, he was sweating profusely-something which started swinging up warning flags immediately.

Both Ruby and Ryuko reacted to the man over them. Ruby by gasping, rolling over, and holding her head with her hands in a fetal position. Ryuko reacted the exact opposite-upon noticing the man, she responded with a punch to the face.

The man flew right up into the ceiling, before landing straight on his face. Ruby jumped off the bed almost instantly. "No, no, no, no! Gross, gross gross gross, gross!"

Ryuko rolled over to the other side and flipped the bed over. "Pervert! You think it's a good idea to make moves on the Kanto Vagabond, the Guitar Case Drifter!?"

At that last one, Ryuko paused for a second before realizing something. "Wait, my scissor! Where'd it go!?" It was then that Mako appeared with Ryuko's guitar case.

"Ryuko!"

"Ah! Mako, Thanks! Be careful here, this pervert is trying to-"

"Dad? What did my dad do!?"

Both Ruby and Ryuko paused before looking at each other, then back at Mako and her "dad" repeatedly. "Dad? Eh? Dad?!"

* * *

Ryuko kneeled in front of him. Ruby, though confused at the sight, instantly imitated the position and followed what she said. "We're so sorry!"

The man, though bleeding profusely from the nose thanks to the decking by Ryuko, simply laughed heartily as he rubbed the back of his head. "Gee, little lady! That's one heck of a punch you got there!"

"Of course she does, She's the one that saved my life after all! Ruby too, she'll have a strong punch as well if you mess with her, right Ruby!"

Ruby laughed meekly, remembering the time she tried to punch a member of the White Fang when she was discovered on that mission with professor Oobleck. Now if Ryuko punched the same guy instead, she was sure that the guy would be doubled over in no time.

Another, more familiar voice made Ruby cringe, and Ryuko blush slightly. "You were badass, lady! Swinging that scissor blade around while half naked and all-GLUH!?" Mako's brother slammed headfirst onto the floor as Ryuko smacked him over the head. "Shut it, you! It's complicated…"

"I still remember you for trying to steal my Crescent Rose…"

"Oh, give me a break! I was the one that dragged you two here!"

The door-at least Ruby thought it was a door-opened. Revealing an older woman that looked incredibly similar to Mako, if Mako had her hair tied up in a bun, with a warm smile across her face and a tray in her hand. This smile still remained even as she spoke. "If belting my husband or Mataro over the head makes either of you feel better, then you two can belt to your hearts content!"

Both laughed quietly...just what kind of family had invited them into their house.

Ruby looked over at Ryuko and blinked. "Ah. Ryuko, look…" The girl's expression showed confusion, until she looked down and saw the bandages covering her entire body. "How did I-"

"My daddy treated your wounds! He's a back-alley doctor after all-the best in the business."

Mako's dad pounded on his chest and smiled. "If comparing the number of people I've killed to the people I've saved, I've killed more!" Ruby and Ryuko looked at each other warily as he openly admitted his...less than stellar success rate as a doctor. "Don't worry about it though, the dead don't sue me after all, so it's all good."

Before either could speak up, Mako's mother came to the table with a large boiling pot filled to the brim with...even they didn't know. They looked at the "soup" nervously, as well as a plate with what both could see _were_ croquettes...with many strange, somewhat disturbing things popping in and out of them. Mako smiled as she pointed to the food. "Go ahead you two, No need to be shy! It's unidentifiable things made as croquettes and unidentifiable stuff in miso soup!"

"Oh you, I only use non-poisonous ingredients, so there's no need to worry!"

Mataro and Mako's dad were already wolfing down large amounts of food. Ruby and Ryuko gulped...just as the door behind them slammed opened once again, revealing a dog with a grey hood over his top hat. The dog stood there silently, before uttering "GATSU!" and proceeding to eat off of Ryuko's plate like he was a vacuum cleaner.

"Down Guts! Your food's outside, you know!" Mako grabbed Guts by the neck and tossed him outside before closing the window and returning to her food. The dog simply opened the window and continued eating from Ryuko's plate.

Mataro grinned at them. "We call him Guts since he eats with such "Gusto."

"One of you were anemic, and the other was exhausted, so eat up you two!" The dad said-his mouth full of food. Both of them looked at each other with a glint in their eyes that said " _Help me please…"_ before the both of them looked at the food in front of them.

Before Ryuko could argue however, Mako started shoving croquettes into her mouth. Ruby looked down at the food, gulped down some air, and picked a croquette from the plate...how bad could it be?

* * *

The entire family was sleeping within seconds. The loud, varying sounds of snoring from everyone reverberated throughout the room...keeping Ruby awake for longer than usual.

She was already in her pajamas-a tank top with a heart-shaped beowolf, and pants with pink roses. Mataro was at least kind enough to also run back to where he found her from earlier and pick up her backpack (though she did check through it to make sure nothing was stolen), so she changed into them as soon as they started to sleep (and she had the privacy as well to do so).

Wading through her backpack also brought up a question. She should've started to run out of ammo a long time ago-at least three clips before running dry-yet, when she looked through her pack earlier for pajamas she saw several magazine clips that weren't in there beforehand. How did they get in there? She certainly didn't put them there. Was there someone in this world that could produce Dust rounds AND the proper magazine types for her Crescent Rose? The possibilities of this seemed incredibly slim…

...Still, it was nice to at least be properly armed. She turned to the side and stared at the ceiling.

 _Everything here is so confusing…_

The thought pervaded her mind as the ceiling continued to hold her attention...until she heard someone whisper out loud.

"Hey, are you awake?" She heard Ryuko say. Ruby turned on her side and looked over at the lump in a blanket that should've been Ryuko.

"Are you talking to me or Senketsu?"

"Hmm-Oh, it's you. I was talking to Se-wait a minute, how do you know his name?"

"While you were unconcious I talked with him, asked him what his name was…"

"Oh...I was talking to Senketsu...seems he's fast asleep though."

"I see…" The two remained silent for a full minute. The two of them hadn't been properly acquainted with each other beyond their first day of school. At best, they only knew each other's name and that Ryuko was looking for her father's killer, that was it. The two didn't even really know what the other was like beyond the two meetings the days before.

Ryuko wondered...just who _is_ Ruby Rose? She certainly sounded like a foreigner of sorts...though it seemed incredibly weird how a girl could end up with a name like "Ruby Rose" (even if it did fit with her taste in clothing and color). She looked down at her feet where Ruby was laying down. "Hey…"

"Hmm." Ruby glanced up at her.

"You want to go out for a walk...I can't really sleep right now." She said. Ruby blinked, before pausing to think. After several seconds without a response, Ruby looked back at her and nodded before quietly moving out of her futon. Ryuko did the same.

Before going outside, Ruby reached into her backpack and handed Ryuko several articles of clothing. "What's this?"

"If Senketsu's asleep, it's probably best to leave him alone for now until he wakes up…" She said.

She had a point. Ryuko wanted to protest somewhat, but it was entirely possible that Senketsu himself was resting up. She grabbed the clothing and proceeded to put it on. It wasn't that much different from Ruby's pajamas-save for the front being a sort of heart shaped crow or something like that. She looked at Ruby with a raised eyebrow, who sighed. "Do you want to wear my normal clothes instead."

"...No thank you."

"Alrighty then…" She reached into the backpack again and pulled out something much more familiar to Ryuko: the bright red cloak.

"Seriously, you're gonna wear that?"

"Yep! Let's go!" She made her way for the door. Ryuko stood there for a minute at best before shrugging and following after her.

It took several minutes wandering around town to find a single vendor open around the hour. Through this, the two of them walked through several areas of town-ranging from a series of shops and stores, to a red light district (which Ryuko had to explain to Ruby about, causing the girl to shiver in disgust). Finally, when they found someone on the side of the road selling various foods, the two of them stopped and ordered something. Ryuko ordered several lemons, Ruby got strawberries by contrast. The two then walked further down the road before finding a bench to sit down on.

Ryuko bit into a lemon-the skin still on it as she admired the sour taste it left in her mouth. Ruby by comparison gulfed down a strawberry, enjoying the sweet taste she felt on her tongue as she chewed it down.

"Strawberries, huh?" Ryuko asked.

"Yep! That and cookies!"

"You've got one hell of a sweet tooth, don't you…"

"Yeah...what about you and lemons…"

"I enjoy a little zing in my food…"

The two ate their treats in silence. When they were finished Ryuko relaxed herself onto the bench, while Ruby looked up to the moon and the stars above. Ryuko glanced over at the girl right next to her. "So...M-My name's Ryuko Matoi, nice to meet you." Ruby glanced back at her before scratching the back of her head.

"My name's Ruby Rose, it's nice to meet you too."

"...So, where do you come from, exactly."

"Me? Well, I-" She froze mid sentence, before shaking her head and looking down at her feet. "-You probably wouldn't believe me if I tell you."

"Try me...I don't mind."

Ruby stayed silent, weighing in her options. She could tell her, hope she believes her, or just move on and leave the conversation dead for another day. She felt, however, that Ryuko wouldn't take her being secretive with her past well, so after much thought and deliberation, she began to tell her.

"I'm not from around here...I'm not even from this world…" She looked up at the moon. "The moon was shattered back where I came from...there weren't Goku Uniforms or anything like that back at home. It was just a completely different world from this one…"

Ryuko took note of the info, remembering the multi-colored crystals from earlier. "I'm guessing that "Dust" stuff is also something from your world then…"

Ruby nodded. "It's natural resource back on my world. It runs all sorts of machines and can do all sorts of cool things-"

"Like oil!"

"Huh?"

"It's like oil. It runs cars and all kinds of stuff like that…"

Ruby smiled. "Close...are there specific kinds of oil that adheres to an element of nature?"

"Uh-Oh. Okay, it's not like oil…"

The two sat there, Ryuko wondering what else to talk about, when Ruby began to speak. "Of course...it's not all bad here. The Grimm aren't around to threaten humanity here."

"The grim?"

Ruby glanced over at her, before she turned to look farther down the street. "...The creatures of Grimm. Beasts of destruction that lack a soul and antagonize people all across the world. They're drawn to negativity, and vary in age-the longer the lived, the more powerful it can become. They're the most nightmarish creatures you could ever meet, that much is certain."

A grimace spread across Ryuko's face. A race of creatures without a soul, that sounded incredibly dangerous if left unchecked? It would almost sound like hogwash to her...yet the way she said it so sincerely…

"How do you know they don't have a soul, or all that malarky?"

"They can't use Aura."

"Aura?"

"Yeah, it's a manifestation of one's soul. Every living being with a soul has one."

"So...is this "Aura" thing how you manage to teleport and move faster than normal and all that stuff…"

Ruby giggled. "Kinda. That's actually my Semblance-something like a more tangible form of a person's Aura that's unique to a specific individual. Mine's speed as you've clearly seen, but some can form clones of themselves, control metal of any kind, and even make illusions. They're pretty cool, actually, when you can wrap your head around the concept."

Ryuko gripped her head. "All of this new terminology is hurting my brain. It's all hard to swallow in one sitting…"

"Trust me...my friend tried explaining to me what little we know of Dust and I still was lost on it all by the end." Ruby smiled. "But yeah, Grimm are a major threat to humanity...that's why I want to become a Huntress!"

Ryuko blinked. "What's a Huntress?"

Ruby's smile grew even wider. "Huntsmen and Huntresses-they're heroes from our world! They dedicate themselves to fighting the Grimm and upholding the peace, and they're so awesome! Both of my parents were Huntsmen and Huntresses, and they were amazing…uh…" She stopped at that sentence. She remembered why Ryuko was here at Honnoji in the first place, and didn't want to be insensitive if she talked about them. "Sorry...I forgot-about your dad, I mean…"

"It's fine…" Ryuko sighed, before looking back at her. "Go on...your parents were amazing?"

"Y-Yeah...My mom and dad were on the same team back on my world. They lived together and raised me and my sister when we were young. My mother was particularly cool, taking care of us throughout most of my childhood...until…" She trailed off.

"What...something wrong?" Ryuko asked.

For a minute, Ruby said nothing. Then, in probably the softest voice Ryuko ever heard, Ruby spoke. "...My mother went on a mission...she never came back…"

"Oh…I'm sorry..." Ryuko went quiet. This girl had lost a parent...just like her, and from the way she said it, it seemed like she didn't know _how_ she lost her. Ryuko looked up at the moon herself, just like Ruby. She wasn't here by choice-she had ended up here somehow with absolutely no way back to her original world. With family and friends most likely worried sick about her, and a mother she had lost several years ago. Ryuko never even _knew_ her mother-she had died well in her infancy as her dad told her...Ruby was the complete opposite, knowing her mother, and losing her at a young age without knowing what she would've been like through her childhood.

She gulped down air. "...Y-You said you wanted to be a Huntress then…"

Ruby smiled. "Yeah...as a young girl, I wanted to be a hero like those guys in books. Someone who fought for something right and protect others when they couldn't protect themselves. I remember when my friend told me once I told her that the world isn't a fairy tale…"

"And?"

"I told her "That's why we're here. To make it a better place...You get where I'm going with this right?"

Ryuko chuckled. "Yeah...you sure are rather romantic for a girl aren't you?"

Ruby didn't answer. Ryuko looked over at her to see Ruby blushing madly-twiddling with her fingers repeatedly. "W-W-Well...I-If I sou-sounded like I was...was hitting on you...then I'm-" Ryuko facepalmed.

"No! Not that kind of romantic! I'm not talking about romance, I'm talking about something entirely different!"

"B-B-But what other kind of romance is there, then?"

'It-Oh, just forget about it…" She waved the notion away, wanting to move on from the subject. Ruby's face was still flushed as they sat there for just a little longer, and it would be minutes before one or the other finally spoke.

Ryuko remembered something from earlier in the conversation. "You said you had a sister and friend?"

"Yeah...My sister Yang, and friends Blake and Weiss…" She sighed at the last one...did she have trouble with this "Weiss" character?

Ruby looked over at Ryuko, a soft smile on her face. "I miss them...I miss them so much…"

Ryuko didn't say anything. She never had a sister in her life, and most people she knew either didn't want to be friends or were more likely terrified enough that they simply pretended to be friends with her so they were feared or left alone more. She sighed...this girl felt like the exact opposite of her. This girl was heroic, more likely to help out other people, and was kind and sweet. Ryuko was dedicated to finding her father's killer, vengeful, and rough around others to the point of getting into fights with others. Yet when she thought about it...the girl was also similar to her enough that she couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She was simply stuck in another world entirely, in the crossfire of a conflict that she had accidentally dragged her in...and she thought she knew something about her father's killer that first day.

She felt terrible. She looked over at the girl-she was staring down at her feet, looking downtrodden and certainly tired. Ryuko scooted closer and patted her on the back, earning her a surprised glance from the girl. "I'm sure you'll find your way back home, one way or another!"

The girl looked at her in surprise, before a warm smile spread across her face. "Thanks...I hope you find your father's killer too, Ryuko…"

The two of them took a hand and shook. Ryuko smiled herself, before standing up and stretching. "It's getting late now, we should head back or Mako's going to flip out." Ruby nodded stood up, and started walking down the street. Ryuko started after her...until she remembered something she wanted to ask her...

"Oh! Before I forget-" Ruby turned toward her. "What's the name of this "world" You come from?

Ruby paused as the question registered in her head. Then she smiled. "Back where I come from, the world is called Remnant."

"Remnant, huh?" Ryuko smiled-it seemed like a rather fitting name.

The two made their way back to the Mankanshoku's household (which wasn't hard, considering the large neon sign over their small house). When they returned back to the house, they instantly fell asleep...awaiting whatever would come to them in the morning…

* * *

Ruby stared at the inside of her backpack in utter consternation.

It was morning now-the small talk with Ryuko made them stay up a _little_ too late, and so the two only had about an hour and fifteen minutes before school started. That left a good half hour to ride the tram up to school, and at least forty five minutes to find their classroom. So it would've been imperative that she get ready for school, and she was-she was fully dressed, she had Crescent Rose on her waist (Mako's mother Sukuyo gave it back to her, earning her a look from Ryuko when she proceeded to caress it close to her cheek like it was a baby), and she had the right amount of ammunition with her today. Everything should've been normal...well, at least as normal as it could've been. Then she opened her backpack…

She still remembered finding this right next to her when she woke up in Honnoji, It was sitting right next to her-filled to the brim with food, money from this world, ammunition made specifically for Crescent Rose, various articles of clothing, and a letter. It wasn't her backpack, however, her backpack back at home was purely black in color, while this one was red with black trim. The general design was different too, with several pockets rearranged and newer pockets also found. When she looked for the name of an owner, the name she found was worn and smeared, leaving only "Property of: !"

She still remembered when she looked at it last night. She was running low on ammunition last she saw, yet when she looked in she saw that the number of magazine clips for her baby wasn't actually low at all. She found it confusing-she always kept count of how many magazines she had each time they were used up-but could accept it as her being exhausted, most likely miscounted from lack of focus.

This, however, she couldn't. She did remember that she used up an entire canister of Dust yesterday to distract Takaharu, which she tossed into the Mankanshoku's trash can as soon as she remembered it. So it certainly _should've_ meant that she was one canister short...then she looked in today, and saw another canister of Dust sitting next to her ammunition.

She pulled it out and looked it over. It was definitely a canister of Dust-filled to max and ready for whatever uses it required (even the ones she couldn't remember from Weiss's lectures). It was even the same color of white from before! She stared at the canister, then to the backpack, and then back to the canister...how did it have another canister with the same type of Dust she used yesterday?

"Ruby! Mako's panicking...you ready for school yet…" Ryuko slid the door open, her head craning to one side as she tried to get a crick out of her neck. As soon as she saw Ruby staring at the two objects, then Ryuko herself, she blinked. "...Is something the matter?"

Ruby stared at her for a few more seconds, before she shook her head and put the canister back into the pack. "...Nothing…" She raised an eyebrow at this, but shrugged as Ruby continued to speak. "...You guys head for the bus-tram-thingy. I'll catch up to you in no time!"

"Are you sure you'll get to the tram in time?"

Ruby looked at her with an expression that said all she needed to say: " _Do you not even remember the conversation from last night?"_

Ryuko sighed. "Right, "Semblance!" Super speed, of course you'll reach it in time. Forget I asked…" She walked away from the door, followed by Mataro, who stopped in the doorway to fling his tongue at her. She rolled her eyes and did the same.

She looked through the rest of her backpack, digging for anything out of the ordinary that she could find...there was nothing else.

She sighed...she should've expected much. She zipped up everything in the pack, stood up and moved for the door. Just as she opened the door though, she saw something floating down to the ground. She walked over and picked it up…

It was a picture...a picture of four girls laughing, all the while covered in various amounts of food.

* * *

"A picture of your team?" Ryuko asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ruby smiled as she showed Ryuko and Mako the picture she picked up in her room. "Yep! This here is my sister Yang…" She pointed towards the biggest of the girl-both in size _and_ assets-with blonde hair and lavender colored eyes who seemed to be laughing with Ruby. "...This one is Blake…" The next was a girl almost entirely in black, with paler skin than most, black hair tied with a black bow, and yellow or gold eyes accentuated with eyeshadow. She was smiling...somewhat softer than most, but still smiling nonetheless. "...And this is Weiss!" She stopped at the girl with white hair, who had it tied up in a ponytail hanging down to the side instead of directly down the back. Her eyes were closed, but Ryuko could feel that blue seemed to fit, especially considering that she was just as pale-if not more so-than Blake. Her expression very much indicated irritation at whatever was happening, but the wide smile on her face also indicated that she was having as much fun as the rest of them…

Ryuko's eyebrow still remained raised as she looked down at the four girls on the picture. "Your sister looks nothing like you-"

"-My sister and I have the same dad but different moms."

"And that suddenly explains everything! Right...The Weiss chick is reminding me of Satsuki for some reason…"

"Yep! She a rich heiress, and was typically treated like royalty in her childhood."

"So she _is_ like Satsuki…"

"Almost, she's less mean, less intimidating...and a little more catty too (Which is strange when I compare her to Blake, now that I mention it)..."

"So she's a weaker, more annoying Satsuki...great..." Ryuko slumped back in her chair as she suddenly thought of this "Weiss" standing on top of a tower all military-like and such. Mako, meanwhile, had stars in her eyes as she looked at the picture closely…

"OOOH! Ruby! You're friends are all super-fabulous! They all have makeup on and such beautiful hair-especially your sister! They're like supermodels, like "Oooh!" and "Aah!" and-" Mako started to pose in extremely generic fashion expo poses, each time funny star like lights fluttering out from her each time. Ruby stayed quiet and decided to go with it as she heard Mako ramble on and on…

Ryuko, on the other hand, looked out the window as she noticed something the higher they went: the buildings changed quickly from simple bland high rises to luxury mansions and penthouses. Her brow furrowed. "There's a distinct gap between the rich and poor folks here…"

Mako perked up at this as Ruby looked out the window, taking notice of this as well. "Well, the city is ruled by Lady Satsuki! Top tiers like Two Stars and Three stars get exclusive residential areas, lower tiers get lower conditions, like us No-Stars, who get the slums!"

Ruby blinked. "So your standing in the school determines how well you live here in the town?"

"Ryuko snorted. "Social Darwinism at it's finest!"

"Yep! It's pretty straightforward when it comes to these kinds of things!"

Both Ruby and Ryuko sat in silence for the rest of the trip up as this all sunk in. When they got off up at the top, Mako paused as she remembered something. "Ah! That reminds me!" Both girls turned to her.

"Ryuko, Ruby! Mom said that if you need a place to-" Mako stopped as a tennis ball smacked her straight in the face. Both of them reeled back at the sight in bewilderment...just as even more tennis balls came flying at her.

Mom said-GUH-If you don't have a place to stay-BWAH-You can-TUAH-Stay-DUFH-With-DOUH-Us! She's already filed the-DUAH-Paperwork!"

"Is now really the time to be talking about that!?" Ryuko said slack jawed, before turning towards the attacker. "Oi! What's the big idea!"

Ruby looked in the same direction, and saw a girl about Ryuko's age with blue eyes and blonde hair tied into two long pigtails at the side of her head, flanked by several One-Star students with tennis outfits. She was smiling, revealing a series of sharp looking teeth that made Ruby have two ideas: either she was a faunus...or she was ready to chomp on something…

She looked at the uniform she was wearing, and from what she could see, her uniform was similar to that of a typical one-piece outfit seen from tennis players...except that when she looked more closely, there seemed to be a series of lenses hidden underneath a white, two stared visor. Even more noticeable to Ruby, though, were tennis balls sticking out from under the uniform. Ruby looked closely at the uniform, and as soon as she processed what she was seeing, had an epiphany…

"...It's a combat skirt."

"Huh-" Ryuko looked at her. "-A combat what? Wait, that's not important right now. What's the big idea!"

The girl before them smiled, revealing the row of shark-like teeth even more than before. "If I remember correctly, you're the transfer student who was rude to Lady Satsuki, and you're the "Red Riding Hood" Takaharu was mumbling about before he lost yesterday...So I'll tell you right now, Stay out of this. I'm the Girl's Tennis Club Captain Omiko Hakodate, and I need a few words with Mankanshoku over there."

"Mako? Why?"

"Mankanshoku failed to fulfill her club obligations yesterday by not showing up to practice, she'll be purged using the 110 Million Cannonball Serves as a result. Outsiders don't have the right to speak about internal club policies, so stay out of my way..."

Ryuko grit her teeth as Ruby spoke. "But Mako was held hostage yesterday, you can't just punish her for something she couldn't help!"

"She was taken hostage without permission, hence she'll be punished…" She turned to the One-Stars behind her. "Begin.

The One-Stars pulled out several tennis balls and started shooting them straight at the three of them. Ryuko moved in front of Mako, blocking them with her guitar case, while Ruby drew Crescent Rose and started swatting them away with the blunt end of her weapon. Ryuko glanced over at Ruby and nudged her as best she could with several tennis balls hitting her case. "You take Mako and go on ahead, I'll deal with this one!"

"Eh!? Won't you be smacked around if you're not careful."

"I have Senketsu right now, and besides, Mako will be expelled if she's late again, alright!"

Ruby let out a sigh of frustration. "Fine-" She jumped over to Mako. "-Hang on to me!"

"Two of them are trying to escape, stop them!"

The students sent balls flying straight for Ruby. She only gave them a glance as she disappeared in a small cloud of rose petals, the balls just a few centimeters from her face. Hakodate blinked before turning back to the entrance, seeing the two running away at full speed-Mako waving goodbye at Ryuko while she ran.

Omiko sighed as she turned back towards Ryuko. "So you're going to take us on, then?"

Ryuko smirked. "She helped me, fed me, and gave me a bed for the night. I just can't turn her down when I owe her one…"

Omiko smirked at this-perhaps this one would be some fun after all. "Don't get full of yourself from beating the Boxing Club captain now...we're just getting started."

"Damn straight, I'm gonna finish you and your lackeys off _well_ before the first bell! Let's go, Senketsu!" She made a motion to ready herself for battle...and just stood there. Senketsu didn't change, remaining in his regular school uniform instead. Ryuko waited a few more seconds before she looked down and pounded on the uniform. "Oi, Senketsu...It's time to go wild on these guys...Senketsu? Senketsu? Oi, **Senketsu!?** "

Omiko's eye started to twitch as her lense started to change. She was talking to her school uniform instead of preparing for battle. She definitely had high hopes for this girl, but it's clear now that she was nothing more than a little "Cuckoo." Her lense settled on the blue colored one. "Die."

"Shut it, there's a reason dammit-" She didn't get to finish her sentence as several hundred tennis balls flew toward her, slamming into her with the force of a truck. She tried to resist the onslaught, but couldn't take it as the balls finally sent her over the edge of the terrace and into an aqueduct below. Omiko stared at where she fell for a while, before turning to walk back into the school…

"What a disappointment…"

Ryuko floated down the stream unconscious. She travelled through several parts of the Honnoji Academy drainage system-passing right by several exits for water to come from, before she finally stopped-hanging from the strap of her guitar case as it got itself stuck between two bars in the exit.

A man walked through the sewers, looking around to make sure he wasn't being followed. When he was sure he wasn't, he looked up at the girl and sighed…

"Oh, dear…" Aikuro Mikisugi stared at her for a minute, before wading his way through the water towards her, his pants getting soaked in the process…

 _Not like I liked pant's in the first place, anyway!_

* * *

Title reference: Blackout by Scorpions.

 **Well...here we are...the third chapter...and I found a typo just after I put it on the internet...**

 **This one I'm kinda nervous about. Essentially the goal was to have Ruby and Ryuko get more acquainted with each other (since most of their meetings beforehand have been while one or the other's in the middle of a fight) and start to bond towards becoming or not I actually nailed it without sounding awkward or absolutely stupid...that's another question.**

 **Now, one thing I noticed being asked several times in the reviews were "What is Ruby going to do about ammo?" One of the reviewers even went in depth about it-particularly hoping I don't handwave it.**

 **So the first thing I'm going to say about it if you** _ **do**_ **feel that I just handwaved the answer, please wait a minute and give me a second to explain here. The idea for a backpack that "magically" seems to refill itself came around as I was writing the story, but since that would be considered a handwave or a complete ass-pull, I tried to give the pack** _ **itself**_ **some depth. The backpack isn't Ruby's in-story, she doesn't even know how it came into her possession, who the previous owner is-hell, she doesn't even know how or why it refills itself when she needs it most. The backpack may be an easy way out for why Ruby will still have ammo throughout the story, but I'm trying to surround it with as much mystery and Wild Mass Guessing as much as possible.**

 **So to those that will see it as an easy way or a complete hand wave/ass-pull, I'm sorry for that, I really am. But if I can give you a silver lining, the backpack-it's past, how it works, and where it really came from** _ **will**_ **be revealed later down the line. Afterall, the story is just beginning-and I'm only three chapters in so far.**

 **On that last note, another small question raised toward me was "Could you explain how Ruby's scythe can cut Life-Fibers?" This I'll use as an example for what I try to do in this story. Now, there are some things in the story that are okay or even required for an explanation at the beginning of the story (main characters, certain additions, world, etc.) and some that are more suited for an explanation later down the line. The reason for how Crescent Rose has the capability to cut Life-Fibers is certainly an example of the latter (as is the backpack), and it certainly won't be the last.**

 **How Ruby particularly got into the world of Kill la Kill, how exactly she could possibly be connected to the world, how she's able to talk to Senketsu, and just what the hell is really going on here are mysteries to be solved later in the story. I know it sounds frustrating, but it's how I like to roll...and I'm already starting down the hill.**

 **With that said, you can still give your own conclusions on the subjects if you want, those are always fun...I think?**

 **Now, onto the actual chapter! First of all, we're halfway through part 1 of the story. Next chapter is the fight against Omiko Hakodate (huh, it's a tennis match? Who came up with that shit!?) and the chapter after that...well, I'm sure you can tell who'll take center stage when we get there...mwahahaha!**

 **If I am to be completely honest about this chapter, I find it a little too weak to my liking in some parts of it. I even think I could flesh out Ruby and Ryuko's conversation a little bit more, or see if I could rewrite the introduction of the Mankanshoku's a little bit. But I'll be truthful here, I'm a little unconfident in myself from time to time, and I don't even know what others think of it as of the time of this writing. Nothing's perfect, so there are bound to be a few stumbles, and for all I know-you guys really like this chapter! If that's the case then I'll put my grumbling down for now and move on from the subject.**

 **With that said, I feel like I nailed the beginning and the end rather well. I know many of you will be going "Wait...Ruby can talk to Senketsu! WTF!?" but like I said, a mystery to be answered at a later date, my friends. For now, just roll with it and it'll roll right beside you when it wants to.**

 **So to conclude with this, I hope you enjoy the story so far as it is. I'm actually having a lot of fun writing this story, and I want you to have as much fun reading it too!**

 **So with the next chapter, we get to the battle with Omiko Hakodate. Like I said last time, it's going to be primarily Ryuko-centric, so you shouldn't expect much from Ruby when the chapter is released (not that you shouldn't expect** _ **anything**_ **, I'm already having an idea on how to start chapter 4, so just you wait and see). After chapter 4 is chapter 5 and with that the end of Part 1: Vengeance and Remnants. With chapter 6 comes Part 2, which will aim to be longer than Part 1 by a margin.**

 **The story as a whole is six parts plus an epilogue to wrap the story up. After that, I plan to write a sequel of sorts later down the line. I'm not gonna give out any major plans right away, and I still have a long way to go. But I'm having a plan stretch out through my mind, and I intend to stick with it. For now, though, let's stick with Crimson Incandescence and see how well it comes along.**

 **To wrap this up, let me level something I'm sure you would've caught onto by now...PLEASE REVIEW! I again find it deeply appreciative of what you think about my story and what you like and don't like. And as always, if you want to you can favorite or follow if you want to-it's your choice!**

 **So with that, let me drop this off at the door…**

 **Chapter 4: Together we stand, we won't take no fall! 'Cause we're winners, and winners take all!**

 **For Fun, Fedora's, and Insanity...PEACE!**

 **-CrazeStasis**


	4. Chapter 4: Winners Take All!

**NOTE: I do not own either RWBY or Kill la Kill. RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth, and Kill la Kill belongs to studio TRIGGER…**

* * *

The hallways of Honnoji Academy were busy today. Hundreds of students, divided between No-Stars and One-Stars, walked throughout the hallways toward which classroom they belonged to. Both contrasted greatly with each other-the One-Stars making their way through in a professional, militaristic manner, while the No-Stars talked, gossiped, and generally fooled around on their way to class.

The One-Stars were the ones closest to the windows, yet their rigorous adherence to order and procedure, despite being a benefit in some cases, was also a bane at the most inopportune times. Hence, no One-Star even took a moment to turn and look outside, and therefore notice what was flying straight toward the window at an inhuman speed.

Ruby Rose-currently carrying a dizzied Mako Mankanshoku-smashed through a window feet first...and then straight into an unfortunate One-Star's face. While the One-Star flew into a classroom, Ruby landed first on the wall then the floor. She stood up just as quickly as she entered and looked around at the stunned crowd gathered around her.

Mako, still off-kilter from experiencing Ruby's semblance for the first time, could only mutter a few words as her eyes spinned round and round. "Woah...they're making a left turn! Everyone's making a left turn, Ruby!"

Ruby paid no heed to the girl, instead she looked at the No-Star students, panic held within her eyes. "Everyone duck, now!"

The students were at first confused at the sudden demand...before they soon realized why. Ruby shot her head back at the window as several One-Stars started to shout at her. Her eyes went wide. "Ohhh, no!"

She turned and sped down the hallway at an insane speed, just as the hallway exploded into a cacophony of pained yelps and screams, debris as it flew into the hallway, and the sound of tennis balls breaking bones as they slammed into One-Stars at a nightmarish velocity.

The firing of tennis balls closely followed Ruby as she bobbed and weaved through flying concrete, flailing One-Stars, and the almost lethal balls themselves. Out in the middle of the Honnoji grounds, Omiko Hakodate stood flanked by well over thirty One-Stars-shooting at the two repeatedly with no intention of letting up.

" **Keep it up! This is a game of endurance-to see which of us will exhaust the other first! If she thinks that she can keep this game of run away going for the day, then we'll prove to her just how long we can go! Fire!"**

The One-Stars were happy to oblige, their shots at the two flying faster and hitting harder with each second that passed. Ruby let out a frustrated sigh as she sailed through the hall, doing her best to dodge everything flying around her at top speed.

She realized she was rapidly approaching a corner with a window. Since she couldn't just stop for a split second to turn herself well around the corner, she would have to settle for the only other option.

She flew through the window and landed on the school wall. She didn't stop, though, and continued running along the wall as the tennis balls chased her down like a dog chased cars. She weaved, she zig-zagged, and she juked through the chaos that enveloped around her...all the meanwhile Mako laughed as they zoomed across the wall.

"WHEEE! THIS IS FUN RUBY!"  
"I WOULDN'T EXACTLY CALL THIS FUN, MAKO...OH COME ON!"

Several shots slammed into the wall in front of her-impossible to avoid and sure to make her an easy target in the air. She sped on top of it and started flying in the air, no footing for her to keep balance.

They were sitting ducks-easy pickings for the Girl's Tennis Club. Hakodate smiled as she looked at her targets up above. "Well look at that... **Fire!** "

In the air, Ruby looked down at Mako. "Mako, I need you to reach for Crescent Rose behind my waist!"

"You mean right here!?" She reached behind her...and accidently slapped her butt. Ruby's face went as red as a tomato as she screamed out. "NO! ABOVE THAT! NOT THERE!"

...The One-Stars started firing tennis balls at them…

"Here!" Mako handed her the familiar compact form of Crescent Rose. Ruby took it with her hand as she aimed it and fired-sending them flying to the side as the tennis balls flew right past them and into the sky. Not finished, Ruby shot to the side again, before shooting above her and sending them shooting towards the ground. When she was close to hitting the ground, she shot below her to make sure they weren't a smear on the ground.

Ruby landed on her feet and looked up, just as a smiling Hakodate tossed several tennis balls into the air, and hit them with a large tennis racket that sent them flying at her at the speed of a dive bombing nevermore…

...None of them would hit her. She blurred right past each one, closing in on Hakodate so quickly that the girl could do nothing but reel as Ruby soared right towards her...and then right past her.

Hakodate couldn't even turn around in time as Ruby-with Crescent Rose now fully extended into scythe form-appeared right in the middle of the One-Stars behind her. None of them were even able to turn in time either...as Ruby pulled the trigger, and proceeded to cut everything around her-spinning like a top in the process.

The One-Stars flew-some of them even smashing into the school windows several meters away. As Omiko caught glimpses of them she noticed something else too: all of the defeated One-Stars were now naked-their bare asses out for the world in its entirety to see.

She turned to Ruby, who twirled her weapon before slamming the blade into the ground...and put Mako down as the girl started to run away from the chaos.

At first, Omiko's face gave a hint of worry away-as if she wondered if she could even win against this girl. Then she smiled. "How interesting…so your weapon there can cut through Life-Fibers just as easily as that transfer student's scissor blade, huh?"

Ruby blinked. "Life-Fiber?"

"You mean you don't know? I'm pretty sure you would've heard it whenever Takaharu boasted about his uniform."

Ruby thought back to her first two days here-right when she and Ryuko met Takaharu. The time when she remembered him explaining his uniform to Ryuko. " _These gloves and trunks, These are a boxers uniform! In addition to the Athleticism-Augmenting Two-Star uniform granted to me by Lady Satsuki. A glove imbued with Life-Fibers will make that glove as strong as steel!"_

She didn't like remembering about the first day, considering how downright nasty it ended up. But it was clear that Takaharu did in fact say something about these "Life-Fibers." She looked at the uniform Omiko wore closely. "So then does that mean y-your _everything_ there is strong like steel?"

Hakodate shrugged. "Well...it's not like I've really ever had to find out, and besides…" She grinned maliciously at her as several One-Stars gathered behind her. "...You won't be conscious long enough to do so!"

Ruby reeled in horror as she realized what was coming. She grabbed Mako by the waist with one arm and shot away from the group as several hundred tennis balls flew in her direction. Omiko's grin grew wider-her teeth even more visible-as she started shouting out orders. " **Don't hold back! Keep running her down until she can't run anymore!"**

"Ahh, COME ON!" Ruby yelled as she dodged another set of tennis balls. As she moved to run away from the oncoming onslaught of tennis balls, a thought ran through her head: _Where did Ryuko go!?_

* * *

 **Crimson Incandescence.**

 **Chapter 4: Winners Take All!**

* * *

 _It was the middle of the night. The light of a shattered moon cast itself through the slowly dying trees of the forest._

 _A young girl walked on a beaten path. She was blonde, with her hair tied into two pigtails that sat on her shoulders. Her lavender eyes glistened in the moonlight whenever she looked up, however it also revealed a bruised and tired face-a hint of desperation in her expression as she walked on. Dragging behind her was a small red cart, which held inside a sleeping young girl with black, red tipped hair and a small red cloak…_

 _Ryuko looked at the scene closely. "What is this?"_

 _The girl paid no heed-didn't even glance at her-as she simply walked on further and further into the forest. Ryuko looked at her. A part of her felt like she recognized her from somewhere before, yet she never remembered meeting a kid like this. Her curiosity piqued, she followed, wondering where she was going._

 _It wasn't far off. The girl stopped several feet from what she could see was an old, rundown shack. The building barely stood, it's door ripped off it's hinges, parts of the roof seemingly caved in, and several windows were either smashed in or boarded up._

 _The girl stopped and seemed to let out a breath of relief as she saw the place. Ryuko raised her brow-what would be so important that you would have to travel through a dark forest practically alone to simply get to a shack that seemed outright hazardous…_

" _M-Momma!"_

 _She froze. Momma? This girl was looking for her mom...but why would she be here?_

 _She didn't have time to find an answer. For as soon as the girl cried out for her mom, the sound of growling made Ryuko's blood run cold..._

 _She looked at the doorway leading inside. Several pairs of glowing red eyes shined in the thick darkness, focusing on the two girls before them. Ryuko felt a coldness-like something important was missing-as she looked at the doorway and straight into those malicious blood red eyes. These were not normal animals…_

 _They burst out and leapt at the girl. Ryuko couldn't do anything-she couldn't move, she couldn't scream, she could only watch. The girl didn't do anything either, her small frame was frozen with fear as she saw what she knew was her impending doom._

 _Ryuko closed her eyes, she didn't want to see this! Whatever the hell this was, please take her away from this! Or someone-won't someone save this girl! Please!_

 _She waited for it to be over...until she heard the sound of cutting and tearing with a weapon. For a moment, Ryuko didn't want to look at what she expected to see, but she couldn't-for some reason she felt compelled to open her eyes and see the truth. Slowly, reluctantly, she opened her eyes...and saw a man with a scythe._

 _His frame was covered in shadow. Ryuko couldn't tell who he was or what he looked like, but she felt a sense of relief at his arrival. The man turned to look at the two girls and kneeled down. "It's gonna be alright...your Uncle Qrow's here to save you…"_

 _For a minute, she smiled. Whoever this Uncle Qrow was, he seemed like a kind and nice guy...until she saw him turn his shadow covered face toward her, revealing a pair of blood red eyes...human eyes._

" _What the hell are you looking at."_

 _She couldn't tell what happened after that, only that her vision became increasingly distorted, and the sound of static grew louder and louder in her ears...until she could hear nothing at all…_

* * *

Ryuko's eye cracked opened ever so slightly. What the heck was that dream about? She certainly hasn't had one like that before, and why did the children all look familiar.

She looked around, and saw that she was in a dimly lit room. It seemed a little old and worn down-the paint on the walls chipping off slowly in particular was extremely noticeable. Yet, she could see that it was fully occupied and rather well decorated...for what seemed like an office at least…

...And sitting on the windowsill, looking out through the shades, was a man in a white shirt and tie, with shaggy blue hair and a pair of sunglasses covering his eyes (who even _wears_ sunglasses in this light?). Her movements seemed to indicate to him that she was awake, as he started speaking to her as soon as she was fully woken up.

"You're awake, Ryuko?"

She sat up, her body feeling sore as she remembered getting bombarded with several hundred tennis balls earlier. She looked at the man before her and recognized him rather quickly. "Wait, you're my homeroom teacher…"

"That's me, your homeroom teacher, Aikuro Mikisugi-" He looked at her and sighed as he started running a hand through his hair. "-Really, talk about your insane extracurricular lessons…"

Extracurricular lessons? What the hell was he talking about, the events earlier today. She was about to ask him where he found her when she felt her blanket slip down slightly. She looked down...and went red as she realized she was completely naked underneath a single wool blanket.

Her head swung around the room, looking for her "Clothes." Senketsu hanged on a clothes rack just over what seemed to be a barely working computer system. She shot back at her teacher with an angry look in her eyes. "Y-You didn't undress me, did you!?"

"Yes, I thought I would teach you a few things...about your body."

He stood up and started walking toward her. Ryuko-not the kind to let something like this go down easy-stood up, pushed the couch she was sleeping on backwards, and threw a punch at Mikisugi. "You perverted son of a bitch!"

He dodged the punch, and as soon as he passed Ryuko's line of sight, she suddenly stopped mid-motion. She didn't register it at first, until she realized she couldn't turn or flex any of her limbs. The only thing that could move perfectly fine was her head...not that it helped in the slightest.

She started to panic as she figured out, deep in the pit of her stomach, that she was trapped with no way out. Aikuro Mikisugi pushed his glasses up the rim of his nose. "Please calm down."

"What did you do!?"  
"Anesthetic Acupuncture. You seem a little hot blooded at the moment, so I'm going to draw a little." He pulled out a syringe.

Now Ryuko really panicked, as she let out a small squeak from what she knew was about to happen. "NO, PLEASE NO! I HATE NEEDLES! PLEASE, PLEaa-Ahhhh…" Her cries for him to not do so rang on deaf ears as she felt her body feel slightly lighter...or was that her head playing a game on her, she couldn't really tell.

Aikuro, without any change of expression in his face, simply continued speaking. "...Let me tell you why your Kamui didn't activate earlier." He pointed the needle end at Senketsu, and with one push from the other end a small spray of blood landed on the uniform…

...Senketsu burst to life in an instant, his "arms" flailing all over the place as his one good eye widened. {MORE BLOOD, FEED ME MORE PLEASE! FEED ME MORE BLOOD!}

"...Wait, now you're awake Senketsu?"

The uniform stopped moving, and looked at her directly. {Ryuko?}

"So you need blood to wake up!?"

"Yes, indeed…" Ryuko turned her head toward the teacher. With one small movement of his hand, his entire appearance seemed to change. His stubble disappeared, revealing a chin as smooth as baby skin. His hand swept back his glasses and hair, revealing a pair of blue eyes that many would consider handsome…

...Ryuko shivered inside. She had seen eyes like that before, practically demanding that she go on a date with them every time. Her response was to land them in the hospital for a month…

...She also noticed that the room seemed to be filling with bright lights from all over the place. How or why, she didn't want to ask, she didn't want to know, and she didn't care-she just wanted to go back to the Mankanshoku's already.

Aikuro smiled. "You understand now, right?"

"A-Are you talking about Senketsu?"

"This Kamui is awakened by your blood."

"Is that what Senketsu is?" She asked, as she also noticed that he was starting to remove his tie…

"That's right. It's a uniform constructed by your father, Isshin Matoi, whose power surpasses that of the Goku Uniforms." His shirt and pants started unbuttoning themselves, making Ryuko face turn as red as a tomato. Without any care in the world, he started to pose. "Only someone who can master wearing this can fight against Satsuki Kiryuin...or so I thought."

"What do you mean...and who the hell are you?" She closed her eyes, she really couldn't take anymore of this sight.

"I am talking about your new "friend" Ruby Rose, but first, prove to me that you are someone who deserves an answer..."

"What?"

"The Girl's Tennis Club Captain Omiko Hakodate-the one you met at the gate earlier today. She should be your first order of business. If you can't master your Kamui and beat her, you don't stand a chance against Satsuki Kiryuin."

She was about ready to ask him another question, when the sirens went off. Mikisugi looked out and up from his window as Ryuko figured that the school day must've been halfway over.

In about an instant, Aikuro seemingly changed back into his sunglasses disguise and appeared at Ryuko's side. "Better get a move on, afternoon classes are starting soon!"

She felt the three needles keeping her in place finally remove themselves, making her sigh in relief...until she noticed that the blanket covering her naked body was slowly slipping off. She quickly grabbed it as she saw Aikuro head to his desk and reach for something...a red, fingerless glove.

"Use this Seki Tekko from now on. It will make it easier to supply your Kamui here with blood." He handed the glove to her. She contemplated whether or not it was a trap, but if this thing could activate Senketsu, then she really had no choice. She reluctantly took the red glove in his hand, then grabbed Senketsu and started to head to the bathroom to get changed.

"Fine then. I'll go and send that tennis captain flying, then I'm going to come back and you'll tell me everything I want to know, dammit!" She walked into the bathroom and slammed the door to get changed. Aikuro smiled...the girl had spirit, that was clear, at least…

* * *

"So...what's exactly going on here, Hakodate." Uzu Sanageyama walked up behind the Girl's Tennis Club Captain as he noticed a rather interesting sight-the Girl's Tennis Club chasing after a familiar red blur as it sped across the field, the walls, and even the school building itself as it avoided the many tennis balls shot at it at high velocity speeds.

Hakodate, upon instantly hearing his voice, whipped around and stood at attention. "Sir. We were initiating a purge earlier this morning, when two students interfered in our work. One of them we beat, but...as you can see, the other one is providing us some ample entertainment."

"Yes, that's clear...but don't forget about what Lady Satsuki said. The subjugation of Hokkaido is meant to be your top priority, remember."

Hakodate swallowed, before reasoning with him. "Yes sir! However, If I may, this other one is providing us with something we've never had before-a live target to practice our skills on. If we can actually take this one down, then there will be no one at Hokkaido that will stand in our way! So please…" She bowed in front of him.

Sanageyama smiled. "I can see the reasoning. Ruby Rose is currently a high value target, so taking care of her _and_ practicing for the Hokkaido match will practically kill two birds with one stone...alright, continue on! I'll supervise until then."

Hakodate-still bowing before him-smiled as she stood up straight. "Yes, sir!" She turned to the rest of the Club and started shouting orders. " **You hear that! Keep the pressure on Ruby Rose-this will be target practice for Hokkaido!"**

Up around the school building, Ruby Rose landed on the roof-Mako still held in one of her arms. She barely got any time to take a breath in before she blasted across the roof as tennis balls smashed through the roof from underneath her.

As she sped across the roof, she brought Crescent Rose around and fired at an area in front of her with an explosive Dust Round. The area blew upward with debris...which she started to use as footholds that she could jump between. She planned it in the moment that she could use it as a way to reach the top of the wall and use that to give herself and Mako some breathing room for at least a few minutes…

...She _nearly_ made it...until the fourth one was shot out from under her.

She blinked as she figured out what happened and started falling toward the ground. As she hit it, she rolled-losing Mako who started rolling ahead of her and near the wall.

Ruby rubbed her head as she turned to the Girl's Tennis Club. Hakodate was grinning ear to ear now-the clear fact that she had Ruby and Mako right where she wanted them apparent for all to see. She waved her racket toward Mako, who started to stand-her balance severely off from the rapid movement she just experienced.

" **Fire!"**

Ruby's eyes went wide as she noticed what Hakodate was trying to do. "Mako, get down!" She yelled to the girl, who promptly held up a finger before falling over face first. Without much thought to what she should do next, she pulled out Crescent Rose, held it above her, and tossed it in the general direction-firing to give it much more push when it went flying.

It was just as they tossed it in the air that the scythe landed right in between Mako and the club. Their rackets were just connecting with the balls as Ruby suddenly appeared between them and Mako, holding out her arms to make herself a shield in the process. The balls were probably a foot away when Ruby closed her eyes and looked away-ready to accept what fate was about to bring her…

...It never came. Instead, Ruby suddenly felt a weight on top of her weapon, and heard the sound of something impacting against metal repeatedly. Reluctantly she opened her eyes...to see a large guitar case between her and the Girl's Tennis Club. She looked up and saw Ryuko standing on the shaft of Crescent Rose, the guitar case held firmly in her hands.

"Not so fast, now! You're dealing with me!"

Both Ruby and Mako blinked as they realized that Ryuko just saved them. "Ryuko!"

Standing in the Club themselves, Sanageyama and Omiko smirked at the sight. "The transfer student…"

Omiko walked forward from out of the group as several One-Stars surrounded the three of them. "Have you come for another beating, Transfer Student?"

"Oh, Please! This time it's your asses thats gonna get a beatdown!" She made a motion to ready herself, only this time raising her now gloved left hand. "Let's do this, Senketsu!"

She pulled the pin on the side of her glove. For a split second, Ruby thought nothing would really happen...until a small flash of red light was immediately followed by Senketsu seemingly inflating, opening a large mouth of teeth, and chomping down on Ryuko before turning into the stronger...more risque form. Ruby's face turned red…

 _Not again…_

Omiko rolled her eyes at the sight. "That looks both painful and embarassing, you masochistic exibitionist!"

"Call me an exibitionist one more time, I'll send you flying!"

"Quit your complaining, let's begin! **110 Million Serve!** " Omiko-as well as several of her One-Star lackeys-threw several tennis balls up and hit them toward the three. Ruby prepared Crescent Rose for battle, only for Ryuko to stop her. "I got this…"

She stepped forward, pulled the guitar case from her back, and pulled the scissor blade out from inside. As soon as the tennis balls were close enough, she slashed through them repeatedly.

They fell to the ground. Each and every one of them split into six quarters before dissipating completely-the Life-Fibers they were made of slowly disappearing in their entirety.

Omiko was shaking with anger-her eye twitching and her hand slowly squeezing down on a tennis ball. The only thing that seemed out of place was her slight smile...which quickly disappeared as Sanageyama shouted out.

" **Fault!** You're disqualified, Transfer Student!"

Both Ryuko and Ruby blinked. "Huh!?

He smirked. "It's true you evaded Hakodate's attack. But slicing away at balls is against the rules in a match. In other words, **You've won the fight but lost the match!** "

Both of them looked at him in confusion...match? What match!?

"Listen up! Right now, you two are standing on a tennis court! Which means that you can't say you've won if you didn't win according to the rules of tennis itself!" He shouted over to them. Ryuko looked around them and saw that they were indeed standing in a tennis court.

Ryuko was about to retort something back, when Ruby-who normally seemed calm considering her circumstances-suddenly exploded-waving her arms in the air as she reached a metaphorical breaking point. "WAIT A MINUTE! I THOUGHT WE WERE FIGHTING HERE NOT PLAYING GAMES! WHAT'S WITH THIS SCHOOL, WHAT ABOUT YESTERDAY!?"

"That was yesterday!"

"THEN WHY ARE WE PLAYING GAMES, IF YOU WANT TO FIGHT US, JUST FIGHT US, I'M GETTING SICK OF RUNNING ANYWA-"

"It doesn't matter, you're disqualified!"

"No, She won!"

Everyone stopped, as they turned to look at the source of the voice...who was now standing right in the middle of them all.

* * *

 **-HALLELUJAH-**

 **"Ryuko and Ruby won! They Won!"**

"What?"

 **"Ruby protected me, and Ryuko rescued both of us! Ryuko may have lost the match, but both won with friendship! Winning with friendship means winning at life!"**

"Uhh...Mako…"

 **"If you're going to be like that, you leave her no choice!"**

 **"Ryuko will win! Even in Tennis! Even in Tennis! EVEN IN TENNIS! SHE'LL WIN!"**

 **-HALLELUJAH-**

* * *

Everyone remained frozen in place as Mako Mankanshoku finished with her tangent. Ryuko, Ruby, and Sanageyama were in stunned silence as they tried to process the cuckoo logic that was Mako's thought process. Omiko Hakodate, however, did pick up enough from it to get what the girl-no matter how stupid she sounded-was getting at…

"So you're saying that you want to face me, Girl's Tennis Club Captain Omiko Hakodate in a tennis match?"

Neither Ruby or Ryuko responded...or for that matter _moved_. It was only after Mako held out a racket to Ryuko that the silence was broken. "Here! Do your best, Ryuko!"

The two of them looked at her-at her hazel colored eyes that seemed to glimpse into something so much more deeper than either could really see at the moment. Both wondered at how a young girl like this could still remain positive and happy in an environment like this every single day...how this girl hasn't broken by now under the pressure of a tyrannical leader like Satsuki Kiryuin. Someone who could live here and still see their life as nothing but sunshine and rainbows...they must have some deep outlook on life, somehow!

Ryuko smiled. "Fine, fine...I'll do it their way."

Ruby was quiet, before she puffed up her cheeks and looked off to the side. "They really should make up their mind, darn it...I've been running for well over four hours...If they wanted to play a game, they could've just said so-"

"You can take a rest up in the stands then, I'll take care of her." Ruby looked over at her for a minute, before sighing and heading to the side where it was more likely to be safe. "Come on Mako, it'll be dangerous here if we don't move."

"Yes!" Mako followed. Ryuko-smiling-turned toward Omiko Hakodate and walked forward. " **Let's do this, shark-teeth!"**

* * *

A large crowd gathered around the tennis court-now surrounded by stone spikes that lined each inch of the four walls around the two of them. Sanageyama stood on top of a large seat overseeing the match as a massive scoreboard was held up behind him. "Special Rules! The match is one game! Decide who serves first!"

Standing to the side closest to Ryuko, Ruby and Mako watched the girl as she checked her racket. Mako cheered out for her, while Ruby wondered about something...are those rackets designed to deal with the intense stress that was bound to follow when the balls hit...she slightly doubted it for some reason.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Mako nudging her in the side. "Come on Ruby! Ryuko's out there, you should be cheering for her!"

Ruby blinked, before she shook her head and smiled softly. "Right, sorry...GO RYUKO!"

On the court, Omiko Hakodate smirked. "She's the rookie here. I'll give her the first serve."

Ryuko herself smirked. "Oh really, I'll take your offer and send it back at you tenfold, then!" She tossed the ball into the air. "I won't hold back!"

The ball sailed straight for Hakodate's side. She smiled and licked her lips at the sight of it. "PATHETIC!" She shot the ball back towards her, the velocity of the ball enough to knock out any unfortunate fool who stood in front of it. It flew back to Ryuko's side, hit it once...and then was intercepted by Ryuko, who smacked the ball back to the other side.

Though the transfer student's reaction time was quicker than she anticipated, she remained calm. Just as quickly as it flew off, Hakodate slammed it back toward Ryuko's side. Ryuko realized this and caught the ball a second time with her racket...and just like Ruby feared, the ball broke through the mesh and speared itself through one of the spikes lining the walls.

"LOVE-FIFTEEN!" Sanageyama shouted as Ryuko looked at her destroyed racket, before grinning and tossing it away. "Not bad."

"Oh, I'm just getting warmed up here! Soon you'll see just the might of the Tennis spec, Athleticism-Augmenting Two-Star Goku Uniform I received from Lady Satsuki!"

"Another one of those shitty Goku Uniforms, huh?" She made another serve. "Now you have me interested!"

Omiko moved to intercept, hitting the ball with such force that it's impact with the ground left a small crater in its wake. Ryuko leaped toward it and, thinking up a small strategy in her head, hit the ball with the edge of her racket instead of the inner mesh.

It seemed to stop it...until the ball started gravitating up towards Ryuko. She didn't realize it until the last second when it hit her in the face and sent her flying away. Sanageyama looked over and shouted. "LOVE-THIRTY!" as Ryuko flew off into the side of the court and into the wall.

Omiko shook her head. "I knew that would happen, because I anticipated that was what you were planning, so I put a unique spin on it…"

Ryuko hanged upside down, exposing a notable amount of under-breast, as well as her legs without the skirt (which barely covered anything to begin with) to protect what was under there. Several students took pictures of the sight, Ruby-her face red enough that it could almost be mistaken for an apple-looked away from the sight in embarrassment, and Mako, though seemingly covering her eyes from the sight, peeked through the cracks of her fingers as she yelled out to her. "Ryuko, you naughty girl!"

"Please, Mako...don't talk like that…" Ruby said as she put her hand on her shoulder. "I'm already having to deal with it already, I don't need the commentary..."

Ryuko started moving as she looked over at Hakodate in irritation. "Alright then, I'll put my own "unique spin" on this one!" She jumped off the wall and stood straight. Just as she did, her suit seemed to constrict down on her as steam escaped several areas of her suit. She tossed the ball up and jumped to serve. " **Here we go!"**

The racket hit the ball...and instantly disintegrated upon impact. Everyone went silent as Ryuko looked at her hand, which previously held a racket in it. Sanageyama, a toothy grin spread across his face, shouted. "FAULT!"

"...Come on." Ryuko was amazed and horrified. It was certainly true that she was strong now, but if she didn't rein in that strength, then she might as well go to the cleaners for all she knew.

Slightly embarrassed and her confidence significantly lowered, she grabbed another racket and readied up to serve. She tossed the ball into the air, gripped tight onto the racket and hit the ball...rather half-assed. It sailed only slightly upward before bouncing off, landing into the out of bounds and into the crowd where a single student caught it without a problem. Sanageyama sighed and shouted. "DOUBLE FAULT! LOVE FORTY!"

"Dammit" Was all Ryuko could muster out as the crowd booed out at her. Omiko smirked. "What's wrong, transfer student? Hurry up and serve!"

Up in the stands, Ruby looked around at what she saw. The crowds were certainly disappointed so far, Omiko seemed itching to move forward with the match already, and Mako was sleeping on the scissor blade embedded into the wall. There had to be something...wait, scissor blade? She looked at the blade (not that she had already while everyone was stuffing their faces) and noticed that, if you gripped it from just above the blade it looked like a...a...

...Then it hit her.

"Ryuko!" She called out. The girl glanced over at her-panic creeping into her eyes somewhat as she realized that this was her last shot. "The scissor blade! Use the scissor blade like a tennis racket!"

"Huh!?" She looked at Ruby dumbfounded.

{She's right, Ryuko.}

She looked down at Senketsu, who was looking up at her with it's only eye. {Only the scissor blade can withstand our strength!}

"Right, Mako!" She yelled over to the sleeping girl, who woke instantly upon hearing the voice. "Throw me the scissor!"

The girl complied, pulling out the blade from the wall and tossing it to her with some surprising strength. Ryuko caught it without a problem as she pulled a thread out from her skirt and wrapped it around the grip end of her blade. "Right...This'll do the trick!"

Hakodate looked at the sight flabbergasted. "Are you kidding me!" Sanageyama was equally disapproving, as he blew his whistle and began to shout. "FAUL-"

A near blinding light burst from the sky, and everyone instantly went quiet. Up above-on the top of the tower overseeing Honnoji-Satsuki Kiryuin watched the game with extreme interest. "It's all right. Play along with this, Hakodate." Omiko stood in silence as she spoke. "Show her how strong you and your Two-Star uniform are."

Instantly both Omiko and Sanageyama bowed and replied "Yes, Mi'lady!" Meanwhile, Ryuko looked up at her with a grimace on her face, while Ruby looked on from the stands.

"Satsuki Kiryuin, always on her high perch, issuing orders to her lackeys as always...It's creepy."

"I'll second that notion."

Satsuki paid no heed to their words. Only looking down at Ryuko in interest with a slight smirk as she watched the match below. "You're going to show me just how much of that Kamui's power you can tap into."

Kamui? Ruby had never heard that one before. She was about to ask what it was, when she heard Ryuko shout out. "You know that this thing's called a Kamui!?"

"Hold yourself. Your opponent is in front of you."

Ryuko grit her teeth, before looking down from Satsuki to the girl in front of her, who slammed her racket into the ground-ready to challenge her. "I'll use you as a Live-Fire exercise for the Hokkaido away series!"

Ryuko gripped down on her scissor blade as she readied up to serve. "Gimme your best shot then!" She tossed the ball up and smacked it, shooting it straight towards the other side of the court. Hakodate intercepted the ball with her racket, and instantly struggled against the sudden amount of force the ball held. As she struggled to hold the ball, her thoughts went ablaze.

 _On the court, you can only count on yourself!_

She smacked the ball back...and her eyes widened as Ryuko-close not just to the net, but Omiko herself-jumped above her and caught the ball without a single problem. She saw the look in her eyes: they were utterly furious.

 _Nobody gets it!_

Omiko cowered behind her racket, as Ryuko brought it down upon her. She slammed it down again and again, harder and harder, until she couldn't hold it back anymore and the ball slammed into the racket with enough force to press into her face. This ended up slingshotting Hakodate, sending her flying straight into the wall.

The impact sent debris flying toward Ryuko. She swatted it all away without a problem until she heard the cries of the Tennis Club Captain flying towards her. With one swift motion, Ryuko spun the scissor around until the grip end was in her hands and swung the blade in Omiko's direction. For a second, Omiko Hakodate simply spun around in the air-before her clothes exploded-leaving her naked.

* * *

 **{Seni-Soshitsu!}**

* * *

A single red thread floated close to Ryuko before disappearing into the "suit" itself. The crowd went wild at the sight as everyone cheered in approval of the match. Ruby jumped over the stands and walked over to Ryuko, who looked behind her as her handiwork made itself apparent. Omiko Hakodate laid on the top of a large spike unconscious, her naked form bare for all to see (and get taken pictures of).

Ryuko cracked a smile. "Oh my. Looks like this match can't go on."

Ruby snorted. "You can say that again...hmm?"

The two of them turned back so see Sanageyama, flanked by One-Star students, standing before them-a look of rage present in his face. "Don't get too full of yourselves, you bitches…"

"The victor of this match is that girl, Sanageyama. Restrain yourself."

Everyone that wasn't Ryuko and Ruby instantly jumped back and bowed as Satsuki stood before them. Ruby looked at her in astonishment-this girl was rather intimidating up close, yet Ruby didn't feel oppressed as she stood there...was it because Ryuko was next to her?

Ryuko glared at the girl before them. "Well, are you going to tell me? Are you the scissor blade woman from that night?"

Both were silenced by a black blur that swung past them. Ruby herself had good enough eyes to notice it was the end of a sword of some kind, but Ryuko was not so lucky. A new indent appeared on Senketsu, surprising the both of them. Ruby looked over at Satsuki...and nearly drooled at the sight of the weapon before her-a black katana with a white hilt.

"If you wish to know, then ask the question with your skill instead of your words." Satsuki said as she raised the blade up to arm length. "Secret sword Bakuzan. This blade can cut even a Kamui, and it's edge is even keener than that scissor's…"

Ruby stared at the sight with stars in her eyes as a few words escaped her mouth. " _So cool!"_

Ryuko looked over to her. "Oi! Who's side are you on!"

"But the sword...it's so simple, but the way she wields it-"

"NOWS NOT THE TIME TO BE ADMIRING SOMETHING THAT CAN CUT US TO RIBBON'S!"

{Ryuko.} She looked down at Senketsu, who stared wearily at the black katana the Student Council President wielded. {If you're going to fight, win within two minutes. Otherwise, you're going to pass out like last time.}

" _How much blood do you need to drink!?"_

"Ryuko!" She found herself drawn out from her quick discussion with Senketsu as she looked up and saw Satsuki make her move. It was here that Ryuko noticed something...Satsuki was getting bigger-not fatter, and it wasn't exactly height either. She was literally growing _gigantic_ , a lot like how large that Gamagoori dude was, and so large that she seemed like a molecule in comparison to her. She started to bring her blade down, and Ryuko thought she was going to legitimately be crushed underneath…

" **Ryuko, block now!"**

...Until she raised her scissor blade, and Satsuki returned to normal. However, behind her the earth seemed to be blasted away as several students-No-Star and One-Star-went flying from the blow. The only one who wasn't blown away by the blast was Ruby, who simply held her hand in front to protect her head from getting hit.

This made Ryuko realize something: Satsuki Kiryuin was far stronger than any other person she had faced well before. The Two-Stars were chumps compared to her, and the One-Stars might as well be nonexistent. When it came to the Student Council President however then all bets were off…and there would be no way to beat her within two minutes.

Satsuki narrowed her eyes as she noticed Ryuko struggling under the pressure of her sword. Then she noticed that steam was escaping more and more, until the two of them were blinded from view. When the steam dissipated, Ryuko stood several feet away with her scissor blade held in front of her. "Mark my words! Next time I'll finish this once and for all! Let's go Mako!"

"Sure!"

"Hey, WAIT YOU GUYS, DON'T LEAVE ME!" Ruby said as she chased them a foot before giving up.

The two disappeared in another cloud of steam. With her first target having run away, she gave a curt sigh as she turned to the second person she wanted words with. "Well, Ruby Rose…"

The girl was looking back at the entrance. She turned as she pointed a finger at herself and asked if she was talking to her. Satsuki didn't respond to the question, only continuing on with what she wanted to say. "...So, shall we test my Bakuzan against your Crescent Rose-see which blade is keener."

"Huh?" Her head cracked to the side. Satsuki started walking over to her slowly, Bakuzan drawn out fully as she approached.

"It's true that your Crescent Rose can cut through Life-Fibers. However, that scythe isn't made for hunting Life-Fibers…" She pointed her blade toward Ruby as she readied herself for battle. "...Just who are you really? And what makes you carry such a weapon...what monstrosity deserves the cold steel of that weapon."

"D-Do you know about the Grimm somehow!?"

"Grim?"

Ruby blinked as she realized that maybe she should keep her mouth shut. Shaking her head, she pulled out a light blue letter and tossed it into the air before she turned toward the gate and disappeared in a shower of rose petals. Satsuki watched the gate for a minute, before walking over to the letter, picking it up, and opening it. The lettering was surprisingly simplistic and somewhat terribly done, but still legible. She looked closely at the lettering, and almost chuckled at the contents…

 _Sorrrry, hAVe to sKip school tooday. Pleasee dON't be Maad, Gamahghoori Sir!_

She folded the letter back up as Sanageyama approached from behind. "Forgive me, Mi'lady. I underestimated the transfer student."

"Hakodate is demoted to a No-Star. As for Hokkaido, set up an interleague match with the sumo club."

Sanageyama bowed, as she started to sheath her blade. "As expected, a Kamui is most formidable. To think it could turn away my blade...I'll remember this day, Ryuko Matoi…"

She started walking back to the school, thinking of the Kamui...and of what she remembered Ruby saying before she left. "...and Ruby Rose, these "Grim" must hold some significance...I will keep my eyes on you like I said, but know that I will find the truth behind you, sooner or later..."

* * *

Title Reference: Quiet Riot-Winners Take All.

 **Well, it's official: RWBY has gone drunk on** _ **Darkness…**_

 **Okay, I know it may sound like I'm joking, but literally, we just went from bright and cheery to a school taken over, an arm cut off, a team dissolved (at the moment), and TWO FUCKING DEATHS FOR GOD'S SAKE!**

 **It must be tuesday or something…**

 **Not that I have a problem with it as much as most people. Granted, the character who pretty much bit the dust (or is it ash?) I thought definitely deserved some more character development beforehand before they killed her off. Plus, finally declaring a ship canon before ripping it away** _ **in the same episode**_ **is just plain cruel, Rooster Teeth!**

 **Still, as a certain (purely evil) man once said: "Gentlemen! You had my curiosity. But now you have my attention."**

 **So yes, I can't wait for how volume 4 takes RWBY after all of this...good job Miles Luna-now go fuck yourself for destroying the feelings of MILLIONS!**

 **...On a side note, now that we know the reason behind Ruby's silver eyes, I can now think of a way to incorporate it into the story! Yay! I've already gotten several ideas just from that one scene in the season finale, and I think they may work better than what I originally had planned.**

 **And on another side note, if I can draw comparisons between RWBY and Kill la Kill here, then doesn't anyone think Yang's current situation is reminiscent of Ryuko's situation from episode 13 of the anime. It certainly made me think so…**

 **...Ahem...You can probably tell that I watched the RWBY season finale already...sorry about that. It's just-DEAR LORD! They really pulled a whammy on us this time, and I seriously don't know how they're going to progress from here on out, so I can't wait to see what happens.**

 **And to finally end the discussion on RWBY for the time being, let me tell you something really important: I AM NOT A ROOSTER TEETH SPONSOR, SO IF YOU SPOIL SOMETHING THE NEXT TIME RWBY IS UP ON THE INTERNET, I WILL SPEAR YOU WITH A SCISSOR BLADE!**

 **...Excuse me, I think I saw red there for a moment, sorry…(Those two end songs were fucking amazing)**

 **So, onto the chapter! First, let me say that I had absolute fun writing this one. I mean, this is the one that** _ **really**_ **introduces Aikuro Mikisugi, so it's somewhat understandable. But seriously, I really did have massive fun when I was writing this, that much is certain…**

 **Now, I did say that I had something in mind for Ruby despite this being a primarily Ryuko-centric, so I hope that those who wanted Ruby in here are happy enough with what you get. And since the next chapter is gonna be the big one for Part 1, she's** _ **definitely**_ **gonna get a major part in the coming chapter-you can count on that.**

 **I kinda wanted to play Ruby as someone who isn't really trying to take sides initially (to some extent). She is willing to help anyone, and is more inclined to try and save/help/protect someone from suffering under a totalitarian rule than just directly fight against them. She sympathizes with Ryuko and can't stand the state that Satsuki's regime is ruled under, but simply wishes to just hurry and return home with little problem. It's only gonna be after this next chapter, when she sees something in particular that clashes with her more simple, kind morality, that she'll finally say "screw neutrality" and choose a side (which I'm sure you know which side I'm talking about). Then the rest of the story will be about her cementing this status while trying to find her way home...until something comes along that completely pulls the rug out from under her makes her ask the ultimate question: "Who's the real bad guy in the end?"**

 **You probably already know the answer to that already, but let's just play with it for now and see what** _ **really**_ **ends up happening…**

 **So this is the first chapter that is completely centered primarily on Ryuko, and trust me it won't be the last. There will be some chapters focused on Ryuko here and some focused on Ruby there as a means of balancing the story between the two, with the rest shared between the two or possibly focused on other characters in the far future. For now though, this one is a Ryuko-Centric chapter at best.**

 **With this chapter done, we move into the final chapter of Part 1...and oh boy, I get the feeling it's gonna be a doozy. You know how the first few chapters seemingly divide up the first few episodes (chapter 1 and 2 are the first and second half of episode 1 of the Kill la Kill anime respectively). Yeah...well, this next chapter will most likely be the** _ **entirety**_ **of episode 3! I get the feeling it's definitely not going to be around 20 pages like Google Drive typically says it is per chapter. It may be forty pages, It may be sixty, a HUNDRED...I don't know. All I know is that it's possibly gonna be** _ **massive**_ **in comparison to the rest of it all. Will I be up to the task? I HAVE NO FRICKING IDEA!...**

 **...So with that all said, I will say that I'm ultra glad you all enjoy this story so far. I really did think that I would just fall flat on my face with all of this, but you guys have proven that it's certainly not the case here. And so with the biggest of hearts I can muster, I say thank you all.**

 **Now to wrap up, Please remember to review, as always. Again, you can favorite or follow if you want to, and I ask for your patience with the next chapter-since it may take a while to write fully. Now...where's that chapter title reference…**

 **Chapter 5: She goes down! She goes down! She goes down, down, down, DOWN!**

 **For Fun, Fedora's, and Insanity...peace...I'm gonna go cry in a corner now…**

 **-CrazeStasis**

 **SPOILER BELOW, DON'T LOOK DOWN IF YOU'RE NOT UP TO DATE WITH RWBY!**

* * *

Pyrrha Nikos.

Volume 1: Ep. 3, 2013-Volume 3: Ep. 12, 2015

" _For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee."_

-Volume 1: Ep. 6-The Emerald Forest.


	5. Chapter 5: She Goes Down!

**NOTE: I do not own either RWBY or Kill la Kill. RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth, and Kill la Kill belongs to studio TRIGGER…**

 **ANOTHER NOTE: If you're expecting a normal length or short chapter...then run away...NOW!**

* * *

 _I was simply entranced by that outfit's beauty…_

 _My father said to me: "This will be your wedding dress."_

 _I could hardly wait. When I grew up, I would be able to wear that outfit. I merely yearned for it…_

 _...At the time, I had no idea what "wedding dress" implied…_

 _...The name of that outfit was Junketsu-"Purity."_

 _I was still an ignorant little girl back then...and a lot has changed._

 _...Yet, still. It's unthinkable that someone would don one of those cherished uniforms before me._

 _...Oh so unthinkable._

* * *

The Sewing Club Laboratory was abuzz with activity that evening. Houka Inumuta stood watch through a supplementary room with a window as the sewing club began tests for a specific type of Goku Uniform. He looked to his left, Shiro Iori watched closely as the few One-Star students began to place sheets of fabric over a near naked student who was chained to the table-his expression full of absolute fear…

Shiro pressed the button for the microphone and started to speak into it. "This is a Five-Star Goku Uniform whose weave is fifty percent Life-Fibers…" Inumuta watched as several students-covered in protective uniforms-surrounded the frightened No-Star. "...Commence sewing!"

The students went to work. Within seconds both of them heard the students reporting the process.

"Number one button location confirmed!"

"Don't inhale the dust."

"Commencing sleeve length alterations, modifying side vent shape."

"Chest adjustment complete."

"Activation of Life-Fiber confirmed. Don't let go of th-"

The case holding the unfortunate sod burst open-sending every nearby student in the room flying into the nearby walls. Shiro grit his teeth. "Oh, for...One-Star security!"

A squadron of One-Stars-all dressed in protective gear and armed with tranquilizer guns-burst into the room and set their sights on the rampaging Five-Star. "Fire all tranquilizer rounds!"

The One-Stars all complied, firing into the cloud of dust in the room. However, their efforts to sedate the rampaging student fell flat, as the boy-now a hulking monstrosity that could be compared easily to a gorilla than a human-burst out of the cloud and instantly swatted security away with one hand. He looked at the window, began to froth at the mouth, and charged-straight at Iori.

He backed up, preparing for the inevitable worse-case scenario. However, before the brute could even reach the window, Inumuta appeared in between them. He flipped through his phone quickly, evaluating the data at lightning speed, before he looked up and shot his hand forward-straight into the Five-Star's ribcage…

...For a second, nothing happened. Then, as if he wasn't dressed at all, the Five-Star exploded-the contents of its uniform slowly fluttering to the ground around him.

The boy fell to the ground, bruised and battered. Shiro Iori sighed in relief, before walking into the room himself. "Thanks for the save, Inumuta."

Inumuta looked at him. "It was your decision to stop at the test-fitting stage. All I ended up doing was unraveling the threads for the uniform."

"Still, I'm not sure we could've beaten him if a Three-Star like you hadn't been here…" He walked over to the unconscious No-Star and picked up a piece of the uniform, closely studying it like a chess player studies his looked down at the boy and the uniform.

"...Simply increasing the Life-Fiber count to fifty percent causes control to be lost this badly, huh? It's difficult to think that some are able to wear Kamui, which are entirely composed of Life-Fibers…"

"...So is a simple No-Star being on par with _Two-Stars_ , like that Ruby Rose girl I've been hearing about."

Inumuta sighed. "She'll be taken care of soon enough. The Matoi girl however...if her uniform is a Kamui…"

Iori narrowed his eyes. "...Then Lady Satsuki is sure to take action."

Inumuta was silent for a minute, before he looked over at Shiro. "Indeed."

* * *

" **Welcome home, mistress Satsuki!"**

The chant of the manors personal maids resonated through the hall as she walked forward, their words falling on deaf ears as she ignored them. As she reached the end of the hall, she turned, walking down another hall until she stood in front of a door leading to a basement...a very specific basement.

"Soroi, the key…"

Her faithful butler-following her throughout the manor-reached into his coat and produced a golden key in his hands. She took it, placed it in the keyhole, and unlocked the door...the very same one her mother had forbidden her from going into since her childhood.

She walked down several flights of stairs, until she reached her destination. The room was rather spacious, but also incredibly dark inside-only a few lights were around to illuminate everything in the room. She made a glance to her left at the "Keep Out" sign before moving on past it, not caring for the warning in the slightest.

"M-Mi'lady!?"

Two guards stepped in front of her. "Please wait, Mi'lady! No one's allowed past this point, not even you!"

"Stand aside."

"We can't do that, Mi'lady."

She remained silent, and instantly dispatched the two of them-knocking them unconscious in one swift motion with a currently sheathed Bakuzan. As the two of them fell to the ground, she walked past them, not even giving them a passing glance. "I don't have time to waste on speaking to fools like you…"

She walked up to a door, which opened instantly. Inside, what looked like a massive wardrobe sat in the center of the room. She walked up it like a series of stairs until she was at the top-standing before the tallest part. She placed her hand on a handprint center...it instantly read her as Satsuki Kiryuin.

She looked up and inside the wardrobe. It was tied up intricately, but she could still see a white uniform with two eyes sticking out-staring at her intensely. "I've come for you, Junketsu."

"Wait a minute!" She heard the sound of shoes against the floor. A short man dressed in a three piece suit, with a stubby mustache and hair waved to the sides ran in, breathing heavily. "Soroi! How could you stand there and allow this to happen?!

"Ah! If it isn't Master Kuroido..."

Kuroido grit his teeth, before turning to Satsuki. "Lady Satsuki, your mother has expressly forbidden the removal of that outfit. Please return it at onc-"

"I can't do that."

Kuroido froze, before sighing. "...This won't do at all. I am Takiji Kuroido, steward to the Kiryuin family, and have been entrusted with the care of this manor in their absence. Even if you are the young lady of the house, I cannot allow such willful behavior!"

"Cannot allow it? Who do you think you are talking to?"

Kuroido went silent. The words dying in his mouth...as Satsuki started removing her uniform. "It's time for the Lady of the house to get changed... **leave me, you shameless fool.** "

He placed a hand over his eyes as Satsuki fully undressed herself, Soroi did the same. "Lady Satsuki, surely you don't mean to try and wear the Kamui!"

Satsuki smirked as she started to pull away the plastic wrap that held away Junketsu. "For me, there is no such thing as "try." All that I do is an inevitable step towards my ambition... **one way or another.** "

"But if you put that on right now, you may not survive it at your current state!"

"Calm yourself-" She was fully naked now, her sword Bakuzan drawn out. "Clothes exist to be worn…" She ran her finger along the blade, giving her a small prick of blood that went down the side of her blade and down the backside. She reached up, pulled Junketsu out of its case, and held it in her arms as she started to drip blood onto the uniform.

"Come, Junketsu. This red blood is the eternal vow between you and I. The red thread of our covenant…"

...For a second, the Kamui did nothing as blood began to soak into its fabric. Then suddenly it's eyes went wide and bloodshot, before it pounced on Satsuki with the fierceness of a rabid animal. Slowly, and painfully, it started to contort around her-forming itself to her body frame as it tried to swallow her whole. Both Kuroido and Soroi called out to Satsuki in worry…

" **...Hold your tongues and watch! Ask not the sparrow how the eagle soars, all you do is the shallow thinking of little people! No one on this Earth can do something before Satsuki Kiryuin!..."**

Both of the men started to back away as blue sparks shot outward, hitting the walls and leaving burn marks in their wake. Slowly, the power that was welling up inside started to grow and grow outward, until it seemed to swallow Satsuki whole.

" **...Even a Kamui is a mere garment! And I…"**

...The world seemed ready to blow as Satsuki stood up, her shadow framed against the bright light both she and Junketsu were emanating.

" **...Will make it bow to my own will!"**

She struggled only for a few seconds more, before she roared at the sky, and her power burst wildly out from her. In the end, the only thing Satsuki-as well as the two men that accompanied her-could see were blue stars…

* * *

 **Several Hours Earlier…**

* * *

Ruby Rose yawned as she walked down the hall behind Ryuko Matoi. Today had been a long and, in her eyes, rather boring class today. She found more interest in the Huntsmen and Huntresses back at her home, so having to hear about this "Hitler" guy and his takeover of a country called "Germany" nearly drove her to sleep. It didn't help that whenever she was screwing around-drawing on her paper for example-the other No-Stars would give her dirty looks, like her attempts to make sure she didn't fall face first onto the floor would get them into trouble…

...Oh. Wait...maybe they would, she didn't really think about it that thoroughly. She sighed. _Why can't I be more like Mako and have the ability to magically fall asleep instantly...or be like Ryuko and pay attention through the entire thing...actually, that sounds rather weird?_

When she thought about it more deeply. She remembered during class that Ryuko was staring daggers at the teacher throughout the entire lesson. Did he do something offensive to her? She looked at Ryuko-her pace was rather quick...in fact, she seemed to be stomping…

Ruby looked ahead of Ryuko. Aikuro, their homeroom teacher was walking down the hall ahead of them...the same homeroom teacher Ryuko had been staring at the entire time. As he turned the corner, Ruby looked over at Ryuko as they came close to the corner. "Hey Ryuko, why are we following our homeroom teacher? You seem a little urge-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence, or for that matter, she didn't even have Ryuko paying heed to her, as Ryuko looked down the corner and swore. "Dammit! Where'd he disappear to, the blue haired-"

"Ryuko! Ruby!"

Ruby stepped to the side as Mako came flying past her, while Ryuko catched her, spun her in the air, and gently put her on her own feet. Mako didn't even seem to mind, as she started to speak. "Where are you wandering off to by yourself?"

"Yeah Ryuko, why are you...huh?"

Both Ruby and Ryuko blinked as they noticed the small slip of paper attached to the back of Mako's uniform by a needle. The note explicitly said " _See me after school where we met before."_ The signature belonged to Aikuro Mikisugi.

Ryuko grit her teeth as she ripped the note off of Mako's back and crumpled it up in her hands. "That bastard!"

With an expression of anger on her face, Ryuko once again started stomping down the hallway, leaving Ruby dumbstruck on what their teacher meant. Figuring she wouldn't find out if she followed Ryuko, Ruby sighed and turned to Mako. "Hey Mako, why don't you head home for the day. Me and Ryuko will get home later."

"Aww…" The girl seemed to deflate...before she was a bright ball of energy once more. "Alright then! Just remember, mom set up a curfew! We wouldn't want you getting in trouble now!"

"I won't!" She waved back to Mako as she ran after Ryuko. "Hey, wait up!"

Ryuko turned back to her, seemingly recognizing her presence for the first time today. Ruby stopped just a few feet behind her and pointed toward the note in her hand. "What is that? And why are you following Mr. Mikisugi?"

"Stick around, and you'll see...then instantly want to never see it again."

Ruby blinked, then swallowed air. This didn't sound good…

* * *

"It's a big problem, you looking at me with such passion in your eyes at school. It'd be bad for both of us if word spread that you and I were too close, right?"

Aikuro felt something grab the scruff of his neck as Ryuko grit her teeth. "Who and who again? There's some jokes that aren't cool to say you bastard…"

"R-Ryuko, be careful. I thought-"

"You're quite naive when it comes to this subject."

Ryuko let him go and sat back down on the couch with her arms crossed, as did Ruby. "All I want is for you to tell me who the hell you are and why the hell you know about Senketsu. Our deal was that if I beat up that Hakodate chick from the Tennis Club you'd tell me, remember?"

Aikuro took a seat down near Ryuko. It was at this point that Ruby noticed something about their teacher: his shirt was slowly unbuttoning. "A man's word is only good on the day it's made, you know."

At this, Ryuko jumped off the couch and drew her scissor blade from her case, pointing it at Aikuro's face. Ruby flinched in terror as she tried to diffuse the situation. "W-W-Wait a minute, what are we talking about here? What about Hakodate or some strange deal?"

"It's as you say, Ruby Rose...We made a deal that if Hakodate was defeated, then I would give her some information…" He said in a voice that seemed a lot more suave than his usual voice. She turned to the teacher...just as he removed his sunglasses, and his shirt came fully unbuttoned-revealing his naked torso in the process. "...And the info is "Life-Fibers."

As Ruby Rose stood frozen in silence as it took her a moment to process what was happening in front of her, Ryuko blinked at what he was saying. "What about them?"

Aikuro smirked, as his shirt slowly started falling off. "It refers to fighting fibers that have a life of their own. The fabric of One-Star Goku Uniforms contain ten percent Life-Fibers, Two-Stars contain twenty percent, and Three-Stars have thirty percent. These special fibers enhance human strength and draw out special abilities..."

Ryuko remembered back to her fights afterward with Takaharu and Hakodate, when a small thread would be absorbed by Senketsu after destroying the uniform. She didn't even notice it the first time until Ruby pointed it out on the way back to the Mankanshoku's after their small talk on her first night there. So that small thread was a Life-Fiber?

Aikuro continued. "...However, there exist in this world outfits woven entirely of Life-Fibers. That, is a Kamui…"

Kamui? So Senketsu is made of Life-Fibers entirely. That intrigued Ryuko. However, before she could voice her thoughts…

"EHHHHH!?"

...Ruby Rose's mind had finally processed the clear fact that the man in front of them was obviously taking his clothes off...and was reacting appropriately. Her eyes practically bulged out of her head and her face turned as red as the light at an intersection. Her voice was shrieking and sputtering, struggling at first to put words together, before screaming out the words in a pitch that would shatter glass. She moved, seemingly crawling up the wall and into the top corner of the ceiling, with Crescent Rose drawn in gun form.

"W-W-WH-WH-WY-WHY ARE YOU UNDRESSING IN FRONT OF US!"

Aikuro flipped a pose from his seat. "That...is a question for another time-"

"IT IS _SO_ A QUESTION FOR RIGHT NOW! WHY ARE YOU ACTING LIKE THOSE MEN IN YANG'S NAUGHTY MAGAZINES! DID YOU AND RYUKO DO NAUGHTY THINGS WHEN I WASN'T AROUND, WHAT IN THE WORLD GOT INTO YOU, RYUKO!?"

"I DID NOTHING OF THE SORT!" Ryuko retorted loudly.

"THEN WHY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT A PREVIOUS MEETING, I CERTAINLY DON'T REMEMBER THIS KIND OF MEETING! CAN SOMEONE PLEASE PUT ON SOME CLOTHES-PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, OH MYGODSOGROSSGROSSGROSS-"

"Because the only ones who know the secrets of Life-Fibers are the Kiryuin clan and Ryuko's father, Isshin Matoi."

Ruby went silent at the name of Ryuko's dad, while Ryuko's brow furrowed at the mention. Aikuro sighed as he slumped back on his couch. "The Kiryuin clan must've attacked Dr. Matoi to steal the Kamui he left and preserve the secrets he left behind for themselves."

"And how do you know about all of this?"

"Because I worked for your father as well. I too hate the despotism of the Kiryuins, and worked to thwart their plans for world domination...and after he died, he sent me a letter…"

* * *

" _When I die, give you-know-what to my daughter. It's just like dead leaves in the forest."_

 _Aikuro reread the letter a second time. Dead leaves in the forest? He had no idea what that meant...was it a form of secret code._

 _He looked down at his feet, at the hatch that led to a basement underneath the Matoi estate. He opened it and looked inside, seeing that the fall was rather steep if he wasn't careful. cautiously, he put a pin into the ground and tied some rope around it before tossing it down the hole. Then, looking around to make sure he wasn't being followed, he slid down the rope...into the basement below._

 _As his feet hit solid ground, he took a good hard look at his surroundings-a simple brick walled room with mounds of pillows stacked on top of each other-before walking around, having a close look at what was around him…_

 _...As he walked around, he started to realize what that second part from the letter meant: dead leaves fall and cover the ground-hiding everything underneath, and forcing you to dig through them to find what you're looking for. If that was the case, and he was referencing that to these mounds…_

 _Out of curiosity he stopped, kneeled down, and started moving the pillows out of the way. When he didn't find what he was looking for, he moved to the next one, repeating this for the next five mounds...until he got to the seventh mound. After moving he found one, out of the ordinary item he didn't see in the other mounds: a black and red sailor fuku…_

" _Ah, there you are...Kamui."_

* * *

"So my meeting with Senketsu was orchestrated by that exibitionist bastard, huh…" She said as Ryuko and Ruby walked down the street. Senketsu looked up at her and blinked. {...It seems to be so.}

Ryuko sighed. Save for that, the guy had also pretty much confirmed to Ryuko exactly what she thought: Satsuki Kiryuin _at least_ knew something about her father's death. She would pretty much put all her money on the idea that Satsuki herself murdered him, but even if she didn't, she would certainly lead her to them...even if she had to beat her brains in to find the answer. She had a lead...sure, coming from a shady source, but a lead nonetheless…

"Ryuko…"

She blinked. Ryuko had completely forgot about Ruby for most of the day, being that she was focusing on Mikisugi for most of the day. She turned her head to Ruby, and nearly face-faulted in response…

...Ruby walked behind her, the hood of her red cloak draped over her head. Her face was primarily covered in shadow, though Ryuko could definitely see her silver eyes clearly enough. Ruby's eyes gave off a wide-eyed stare, and steam seemed to rise from off the top of her head. The girl didn't look at her, but started to speak as they continued on. "Please, let's never go back to that man's place ever again…"

Ryuko chuckled. "Sorry...but until I find who killed my dad, we're gonna have to deal with his sorry exibitionist ass for a while longer."

" _Gross, gross, gross, gross, gross…_ a-also, about your dad-"

"-And the fact that he made it the sleaziest thing on the planet?"

Ruby nodded. Ryuko let a grimace pass over her face as she recalled Aikuro saying to chalk up Senketsu's appearance to her dad's preferences. She certainly didn't think her father as much of a pervert...well, okay, she didn't really doubt he was a pervert, but towards his own daughter? The thought was almost too much…there had to be something more...something different?

She sighed in frustration. "Let's just forget about all of that for now...I'm gonna end up bashing my head against a wall if I continue." Ruby was silent, but nodded. The two didn't say anything for a good few minute afterwards, until the silence finally got to Ryuko and she had to ask a question she couldn't help asking…

"...So, um...What were your parents like?"

Ruby flinched slightly as she looked over at Ryuko. She remembered Ryuko asking all about who she was on their first night at the Mankanshoku's, but…

"Didn't you already ask me about my parents?"

"Well, I mean...not "are they cool" or that sort of thing. More like how are they like individually-that kind of thing?"

She blinked. She could certainly see the difference in what she was asking. She smiled as she looked up at the clouds in the sky. "Well...my sister Yang and I always say that my mom was essentially Supermom-baking cookies, having fun with us, and slaying giant monsters by the dozen. And dad...well, he's a little overprotective, and somewhat eccentric...he'd always send the pet dog Zwei through the mail-"

"He'd send a dog...through the mail?"

"-Yep, always did, always has. But he's caring and open, he watched over us for most of our life…"

"Most?" The word was a little sharper than Ryuko intended, but Ruby didn't seem to mind it. Instead she simply stopped in her tracks as her smile disappeared. "...When mom didn't come back from her mission, dad seemed to simply...stop. Like he seemed to almost give up on everything-Me and Yang, his job...everything. It would take a few years before he bounced back to normal…" She reached into her pouch pulled out the picture of her team. "...And every now and then, he'd just seem to freeze for a moment, before returning to his old cheery self."

Ryuko stayed silent. It seemed that whenever Ryuko brought up Ruby's parents, the following discussion would hit her like a truck. Just what was it about her-she had lost her mom, her dad shut down for awhile, and now she was stuck in this place. How could she handle it all? She herself could barely stand her own life...what about Ruby made her look at the world all happy and cheerful, even among the darkest of places?

She sighed, as she walked over to her and patted her on the back. Ruby flinched slightly as she turned to see her smiling, her blue eyes shining in the sunlight of the dusk. "But he's happy again...right?"

Ruby blinked, before she cracked a small smile. "Yeah...at least I hope he is…"

Ryuko started walking forward-the Mankanshoku's house being just a few blocks away-when Ruby asked a question that stopped her in her tracks: "What about your dad?"

The world seemed to grow duller at the question. Ryuko groaned audibly enough that Ruby caught it immediately. She jumped slightly before rubbing the back of her head. "Sorry...That was too soon a question, I didn't mean anything…"

"...It's fine." Ryuko looked up at the sky. The clouds were gathering now-it looked like it was going to be raining soon. "...Is it okay if I keep that to myself for now?"

Ruby walked right up beside her, a meek smile on her face. "It's supposed to be yours anyway. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to…"

"Thank you…"

Ruby nodded, before looking up at the sky. "It looks like it's going to be raining soon."

As if mother nature seemed to have a sense of humor, a blanket of rain came falling down from the heavens over the two of them. The two of them flinched as the water began to soak their clothes.

Ryuko shot Ruby a look, who responded with a weak laugh and a smile. "Well...umm...guess we better hurry to the Mankanshoku's?"

* * *

Ruby yawned as she walked into the darkened living room of the Mankanshoku's house. She had long changed out of her normal clothes and into her pajamas before anyone else, and as soon as she made sure no one was peeping on her, she jumped into a small bath to get cleaned up.

Save for the pained screams of the male members of the household (and Guts) as well as the angered shouting of Ryuko, everything was rather tranquil from the shower.

Afterward she got redressed and walked back in...to see everyone but Mako and her mother Sukuyo hogtied and struggling to escape.

"Why is everyone tied up?"

" **Because they're all perverts...every last one of them."**

Ryuko was readjusting Senketsu on a clothes rack, an irritated grimace across her face. Ruby looked down and saw that she was wearing a pair of pajamas-a size maybe smaller than her-colored a creamy pink with white bunny rabbits all over her. She was about to ask where she got them, when Mako-in her own pajamas-walked in.

"Wow! You look great! You look so great in pajamas!"

"C-cut it out." Ryuko said, her voice much softer than before. Ruby smiled.

"But yu do look good in those pajamas…"

"T-Thank you?"

"...Though I could've lent you some pajamas from before, you know?"

"No-No, that's alright. They said that these were handmedowns and they were ready to throw them out so I just decided to wear them, nothing wrong wit...huh?"

Ruby and Mako looked at each other. "What's wrong?"

Ryuko moved a hand through Senketsu, her stare interlaced with slight confusion and wonder. "The surface of Senketsu feels rough for some reason…"

Mako put a hand on the uniform, and instantly her cheeks puffed up at the feeling. "Hmmm...This uniform has goosebumps!"

The two of them blinked in unison. "It has goosebumps?"

"Doesn't it feel like it?"

Ruby and Ryuko glanced at each other before looking at Senketsu. The faint sound of a heavy breath escaped the uniform.

"He's...nervous?"

"What the hell?"

They all stood there in silence-staring at the uniform before them. Senketsu had goosebumps? That didn't sound good at all. Ruby looked closely around the room...nothing out of the ordinary to see. Was he nervous from something else?

The two of them thought about it a little more, until Mako finally decided to go to bed. Reluctantly, Ruby and Ryuko shared one last glance at each other before they themselves decided to hit the futon for the night. Within minutes, Ruby dozed off into sleep, and Ryuko-with some effort-followed suit, a feeling of paranoia giving way to the counting of sheep…

...Little did either know of what was to come in the following morning…

* * *

 **Present Time…**

* * *

"What's wrong Ryuko?" Mako asked as Ryuko yawned for the fifth time today. The three girls-Ryuko, Ruby, and Mako-all walked up the last flight of stairs as Ryuko turned to Mako. "Nothing, I just thought that something bad was going to happen last night, and I had trouble sleeping…"

"I can attest to this!" Ruby said, holding up one finger. "You kept kicking me while we were asleep."

Oh...sorry…" She let out another yawn as they started to walk toward the gate. Ruby couldn't exactly blame her though. She had a few nightmares of her own last night, and woke up today in a cold sweat. She couldn't even remember what the nightmares were about, but it was clear she found them absolutely terrifying. She was amazed that she didn't even wake up in the middle of the night screaming her head off, because she was sure that she nearly had a heart attack.

Nonetheless, Ruby smiled. "It's alright, I didn't find any bruises as far as I could see."

Ryuko smiled as they started walking under the gate. Mako and Ruby were beginning to engage in conversation-talking about various sweets, how weapons work-when Ryuko suddenly stopped. Ruby and Mako initially continued on for a few feet before they realized that someone wasn't where they were before, and promptly backed up until they were lined up with Ryuko.

"Is something the matter? Ryuko?" Ruby said. She looked closely, noticing that Ryuko's face was a grimace.

"Yeah...look." She motioned her head forward, and Ruby looked in the same direction…

...She blinked at the sight before her. To their sides, two rows of One-Star students stood blocking the rest of the courtyard with white flags (at least Ruby thought they were flags) and a white fence of sorts. The rows would continue on until they came together a fair distance away, completely blocking the entranceways to the school.

Both her and Ryuko narrowed their eyes as they realized what they just walked into. Before either could do anything though. a bright light emanated from the tower above. Ruby covered her eyes as she looked up at the source of the light itself…

"Satsuki Kiryuin." Ryuko said through gritted teeth.

"Ryuko Matoi and Ruby Rose…" The Student Council President said from above, as a set of stairs extended themselves out to the ground a few feet away from them.

Ruby looked closely at her. It was, in fact, Satsuki Kiryuin up above, coming down to face them. However, Ruby noticed something incredibly different from before. Her uniform-while still white with gold military pieces here and there-had done away with the pant-like legs going up a skirt, and her uniform looked even more militaristic than before, save for a pair of hair clips on each side. A set of gold epaulettes sat on her shoulders, and the gold and blue trimming were even more defined than her last uniform…

...The most notable part, however, wasn't any of those things. It was the pair of eye-like shapes just above her breasts...eyes just like Senketsu…

 _Is that a...Kamui!?_

Ryuko didn't seem to notice, as she snorted at the sight of her. "...And what do I owe the honor of _this_ grand welcome?" She waved her hand out toward the crowd of One-Stars. "You've gone to the trouble of waiting for me...so what's the catch?"

The clink of Satsuki's heel became more prominent as she walked down the stairs. "It was you who said that when we meet next, you would settle matters once and for all, correct?"

"How very conscientious of you." Ryuko said with a smirk on her face. Ruby meanwhile turned to Mako. "Mako, the sidelines, now."

Mako nodded and bowed. "Okay, and remember, having your health, that's the important thing?" The girl then bolted away, joining the crowds that surrounded them.

Ruby turned to Ryuko. "Something's off today."

She glanced at her. "Whaddya mean?"

"Her uniform, it's different from before."

"Right…" Ryuko nodded as a clink sounded in front of them. Satsuki Kiryuin stood before them-a sinister smile spread across her lips. "Rejoice, Ryuko Matoi, Ruby Rose. You two will be the first offering to my Junketsu."

"Junketsu…" Ryuko cracked as Ruby's mind deciphered the word-"Purity." Ryuko continued. "Exactly what the hell about you is pure!?"

Satsuki started to raise a hand toward her shoulder. "Allow me to show you…"

...She clicked three button-switch-thingies on a blue segment of her left arm, and in an instant the uniform was changed from white to red in seconds. A second long pause came before the uniform exploded outward and started to reform itself around Satsuki. As the transformation finished, the shoulders extended upwards as a pair of eyes with black sclera revealed themselves.

" **Life-Fiber override, Kamui...Junketsu!"**

The crowd of One-Stars were in awe (and flushed in the face) as they began to clap. Ryuko stared wide-eyed at her while Ruby's stared at her with the reddest face a person could manage. It was so red that steam was coming out of Ruby's ears...with good reason.

On the basic parts of the uniform, it wasn't that much different from Senketsu-heeled boots (that reached up almost the entirety of her legs instead of the thigh), various vents for steam, a pair of extensions in the hair. However, Satsuki's uniform made Ryuko's look _far more_ conservative in comparison. Her breasts were almost entirely exposed in a small front window-the edges _just_ managing to cover her...naughty bits. There was no skirt-like part of the uniform covering her waist, instead coming out at the top of her legs. This, as a result, exposed the entirety of her crotch area-showing what seemed like a _thong_ attached to the top that was barely covering anything!

Ruby reeled back at the sight, her heart screaming out for everyone to hear. "IT'S EVEN NAUGHTIER THAN RYUKO'S!"

"OI!"

"Yes! You see, you two, this is my Junketsu. You aren't the only one in possession of a Kamui!"

Ryuko grit her teeth, before reaching for the pin on her glove... "Let's go, Senketsu!" ...And turning into her own form. Ryuko-her face flush with embarrassment-turned to Ruby.

"You stand aside, I got this!"

"What!?" Ruby couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You want me to stand to the side while you may possibly get yourself killed!?"

"Satsuki here is mine and mine alone! You don't even have a reason to fight her, so move!"

Ruby flinched. She did have a reason, though! Wasn't fighting for innocents a good enough reason as it is? "But-"

"Now!"

Ruby stopped. Trying to convince her wouldn't work in the slightest-she was too stubborn. She sighed in frustration as she backed up, "Fine. But be careful out there!"

Ryuko blinked, before smirking and turning to Satsuki. "Don't _you_ worry. I'm gonna kick her ass and send her back to her mommy!"

As Ryuko walked forward, Ruby swallowed air nervously. "...I have a bad feeling about this."

* * *

{Ryuko, I feel I should warn you. The opponent you're about to face is far stronger than you in your current form.}

"I can see that." Ryuko, despite wearing Senketsu-a Kamui-herself, she could feel a wave of insane power wash over her more and more the closer she got. As they approached each other, Ryuko noticed that her target seemed to get more and more intimidating. Like terror was slowly scratching at the back of her mind and telling her to run from this fight…

 _Not gonna happen…_

They both took another step forward, and the area around them promptly blew outward-sending several students flying into the air. On the side behind Satsuki, the Elite Four stood watch as the event began, Inumuta marveling at the power of two Kamui's ready to clash. On the other end, Ruby held onto Mako-who was struggling not to fly away from the simple power that emanated from the two. Ruby, for her part, was barely even phased by this, and not only managed to stay perfectly where she was standing in the first place, but actually managed to hold onto Mako with minimal effort.

She gulped. _Is that power even...or overwhelmingly in Satsuki's favor._

Both Ryuko and Satsuki didn't even take time to glance over at the crowds, instead keeping their attention focused completely on each other. Satsuki was marginally surprised-for all the times that the two had seen the other in the last week, Matoi had seemed particularly boisterous, especially when compared to Ruby Rose. Yet, there was no smile or smirk on her face, no boastful retort or declaration-just Ryuko Matoi, a serious glare towards Satsuki herself.

If she gave _credit_ to Matoi, then the fact that she was taking this as a completely serious event would've slightly impressed her…but this was going to be a quick battle, she didn't have time to give credit.

She took three more steps...when Ryuko charged at her. She scoffed at the motion as she swung her sword only once toward her. Ryuko saw it coming just as easily, and swung her scissor blade downward on the attack...and promptly jumped over it, sending the shockwave from it back where she came from.

 _Oh...Matoi is smarter than she looks, redirecting the blow instead of taking it head-on._ Her eyes lit up...perhaps Matoi was worth some time afterall.

Ryuko landed, just as several more slashes flew her way, she deflected the first one-which left a small cut in her arm-and started running to the left. Satsuki followed, keeping her attacks coming as she stood in the exact same place. Ryuko groaned inside-she obviously wasn't going to make it easy to get to her...looked like she might as well just go for a more direct approach…

...Suddenly she shot forward, her blade pointed directly at Satsuki, and her body spinning like a drill. Satsuki noticed the attack coming for her, and sidestepped it. Not that Ryuko really cared, the attack was more to get closer to her than anything else...which made what comes next absolutely piss her off.

Satsuki swinged her blade upwards. Ryuko went to block it with her scissor blade, only to feel like she was hit by a train as the force of the blow smacked right into her. She put her heeled foot on the blade hoping to stop herself from flying, but it was in vain, as Ryuko soon realized she was in the middle of the air.

She blinked for a few seconds, before trying to recall where the ground was. She managed to do so, just as Satsuki jumped up to her, her leg raised over her head.

Ryuko brought both arms up to block, as Satsuki brought her foot down on her with an ax kick. She felt her arms almost turn to mush at the attack as she flew straight from out of the sky and straight into one of the nearby school buildings.

"Ryuko!" Ruby cried out from the crowd, watching her friend get smacked into the building. Satsuki paid her a small glance before she landed on the ground and brought her hand up to eye-level. "...Marvelous."

She turned to the building, and with no effort at all leapt to the newly made hole in its walls. "The power of a Kamui is truly a marvel. Yet, you have all this power at your disposal, and this is all you can do with it, Matoi?" She walked forward as the dust cleared, revealing Matoi, currently laying face down on the ground.

She readied her sword, Bakuzan, when Ryuko shot up from the ground and spun around, slashing at a beam sticking out of the wall. Satsuki nonchalantly looked up as debris started falling from up above and, with a huff, slashed it all to pieces within seconds.

During this small distraction, Ryuko darted toward a wall and smashed through it, sprinting down a hall at rapid speed. As soon as she was sure she had enough time, she dived into a nearby classroom and hid inside.

 _She's insanely strong...I can't even attack her directly…_

She looked around at the room around her and noticed that several backpacks were sitting inside. She ran over to a yellow colored one and opened it to see if there was anything inside.

{Ryuko, what are you doing?}

"Finding something for an idea…"

Meanwhile, Satsuki turned the corner in the hallway and looked around. There weren't very many openings for an ambush or a hit and run, and she could tell that it wouldn't do much damage to her. So what was Matoi planning?

Without a thought, she simply started talking out loud as she started down the hall. "If this is the case, then all you are is a mindless lump of flesh fitted right into that Kamui of yours…"

Nothing happened-no one spoke out, nothing really sounded off. Suspicious, she repeated her sentence word for word…

"Oh really. So what does that make you?"

"...I'm nothing like you."

She swinged Bakuzan horizontally into the nearby classroom, the slash cutting into the wall, and whatever stood on any desks nearby...including one half of a walkie-talkie cut into two halves…

Satsuki narrowed her eyes. A transceiver? What did Matoi need with that?

Her answer came as Ryuko-hiding up just above the window-smashed through with a roar and brought her scissor blade down over Satsuki's head. She raised her sword and blocked the attack as she smirked and continued with her speech. "I've already mastered the art of wearing my Kamui. **Of wearing Junketsu!** "

Ryuko felt her head slam into the ceiling as Satsuki pushed her blade up and swung. She smashed through three more floors before hitting the ceiling. Her body felt pain all over, and Ryuko could barely react in time when she saw Satsuki jumping toward her-intending to kick her with both feet into another series of floors. She leapt to the left as the Student Council President smashed into the ceiling behind her, rolled onto the floor, and dashed down another hallway.

"Planning on running again?" Satsuki jumped down into the hall and chased after her, skidding to a stop at the very end. Ryuko turned a corner on the other end and ran down until she found another room with a particular sign she found rather appealing: chemistry lab.

She bolted in and shut the door behind her. Quickly her head looked around to find certain materials she was going to need. She ran to a cupboard and found the first part of what she needed-Acetone.

{Ryuko, what are you doing now!?}

She pulled out several cans of the stuff and sat them next to every sink in the room, started clogging the drainpipes to make sure it wouldn't drain any liquid, and poured it into them.

"Doing a little chemistry experiment!"

{Okay...I didn't really think you were into chemistry.}

"I'm not!"

Next she bolted for another part of the room and opened several other cupboards, finding the next part of her little "experiment."

{Some drain cleaner and...BLEACH!?}

"It's not for us!"

She placed several instances of both around each filled sink and quickly poured the bleach into the drain cleaner each time. Then quickly, she ran to the desk, picked up a piece of paper, a pencil, and started writing a note while Senketsu watched on nervously. {So, what will this end up doing?}  
"You'll see! I saw it in an American movie!"

{What's American?}

* * *

Down the hall, Satsuki walked down the corner, keeping her eyes on the nearby doors and windows in case of a sneak attack. It was only after she reached a chemistry lab that she noticed the small piece of paper taped to the wall with a single note: " _In here, dumbass!"_

She snorted as she read the note before walking over to the door and kicking it off it's hinges-literally sending it flying into the room. "You can't hide from me, Matoi…"

She walked around and looked at the room. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, save for a few canisters sitting on the tables next to the sinks. She narrowed her eyes at the sight...why would Matoi drag her into here? Try to poison her with gas? Haphazardly try to make something that could defeat her in some manner?

She walked next to the sink...and stopped as she was about to walk past it. She looked down inside the sink and saw an incredibly clear liquid surrounding a container of drain cleaner. She looked to the side, at the bleach sitting nearby and back at the drain cleaner...just as she noticed that the liquid around the container started to bubble, and a squeal permeated throughout the room.

Her eyes widened as she realized a little too late what Ryuko's plan was, just as the room exploded and the surroundings turned into an inferno.

* * *

Ryuko breathed heavily as she stabbed her scissor blade into the rooftop. She felt completely drained, as if she was running completely on empty...maybe she was. "Senketsu, how long before I fall unconscious?"

{About a minute and a half at most…}

She sighed in frustration. "Then turn back...I need to stay awake for this fight…" She said as she forced herself back up to her feet.

{Ryuko!?}

"Just do it…"

Reluctantly, Senketsu turned back into his original sailor fuku form. The next few minutes were left in silence-save for Ryuko's breathing-as she stood there to take a small rest.

{She's right, you know.}

"Huh?"

{Satsuki Kiryuin. It's true she has mastered how to wear this "Junketsu." When I am worn by you and I drink your blood, then the power of us both manifest...however, you have yet to truly put me on.}

"The fuck! I'm wearing you right now! I always wear you into battle and I nearly die of embarrassment every time! What more do you want from me!?"

{...Acceptance.}

"Wha...Senketsu…" Before she could finish what she was about to say, the area of the roof nearby exploded. Ryuko reeled back as a wave of heat flew out at her and nearly pushed her to the ground as a result. Senketsu stared wide-eyed at the sight as he realized just what that little "chemistry experiment" did. {It exploded!?}

"Yeah...like I said...saw it in a movie…"

The two of them stared at the fire that was blazing from what was once a chemistry lab. Several more, smaller explosions seemed to follow afterward, and smoke billowed out from the fire and into the sky.

{Is she dead?}

"I doubt it…and it's not like I want that in the first place..."

The fire raged on, and on, and on…

"How clever, Ryuko Matoi..."

Before the flames seemingly started to part at the bright light that emanated from the one and only Satsuki Kiryuin. Ryuko grit her teeth-does anything keep her down for long?

Satsuki was smiling as she walked out of the flame and onto the rooftop. "To try and use an explosion to stop me. I will say that is a clever idea-an unfortunately useless one, but clever nonetheless…" As she stood several feet before her enemy, she noticed that Ryuko wasn't in her Kamui's released form anymore, and her smile disappeared. "...Now, however, I'm wondering. Why aren't you using your Kamui anymore…"

Ryuko scoffed. "What's it to you-" She took a lower stance and held out her scissor blade like a sword. "-I'm still here and raring to go! So fight me, you bitch!"

Satsuki didn't make a single motion, instead closing her eyes and shaking her head in disappointment. "I see...you've decided to fight me without the power of your Kamui to avoid falling unconscious. A truly admirable attempt..."

" **Just shut up already!"** Ryuko rushed forward, yelling at the top of her lungs, leapt up, and started bringing her scissor blade down with an easily telegraphed swing.

Satsuki looked up, her face emotionless... " **...But futile!"**...before her eyes went wide with fury and she swung Bakuzan up to meet the scissor. As the two hit, Ryuko easily gave way to the attack as she was thrown off the roof and into the air, losing her grip on the scissor blade in the process.

The roof itself exploded outward in a chaotic jumble of concrete debris and multiple school objects such as desks, fractured or whole chalkboards, and broken bookshelves. As Ryuko landed hard on the ground-her scissor blade embedded in the ground a foot away from her-the debris fell onto the ground itself, sending several clouds of dust into the air in the process.

Ryuko's body could barely move. She hurt all over, possibly had several broken bones in the process. With an incredible amount of struggling, she did all she could to roll herself onto her front side. After that, she tried to get up as best as she could...as she heard the sound of two heels clicking on the ground behind her.

"Even with your Kamui draining you dry, you are enough of a challenging opponent to some to be considered dangerous. However, when your Kamui is dormant, you might as well be naked."

Satsuki walked up to the beaten and bloodied Ryuko, reached down, and picked her up from the hair with little effort. Ryuko screeched as she felt her hair be pulled, but looked down at her with a small smirk on her face. "This is funny, coming from you in that exibitionist getup…"

Satsuki's eyes narrowed at the girl, before she tossed her to the ground in anger. "Exibitionist? **Nonsense!-** " She waved her arms out to show off her full appearance. " **-This is the form in which a Kamui is able to unleash the most power! The fact that you are embarrassed by the values of the masses only proves how small and insignificant you are! If it means fulfilling her ambitions, Satsuki Kiryuin will show neither shame nor hesitation!-"** She brought her blade up over her head. " **-Even if she bares her breasts for all the world to see! My actions ARE UTTERLY PURE!"**

Ryuko Matoi grit her teeth as she began to accept what was about to come next. She glared at Satsuki throughout the entire speech, even as she started to bring her sword down on her…

...And then, both-in that very split second-saw a flash of red, and the sight of rose petals...

...Satsuki redirected her swing straight into a block to her right as the scissor blade collided once more with Bakuzan. Not wielded by Ryuko Matoi, but by Ruby Rose.

Ryuko stared at the girl wide-eyed. "Ruby…"

The girl in the red hood stood her ground as sparks flew out from the two blades. As she started to push on the blade, she began to speak. "...What's wrong with being small…"

Satsuki's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"What's _so_ wrong about being small…" She repeated. "...If Ryuko is so small...than at least that means she's more honest than you'll ever be." Ruby pushed the scissor blade forward, sending Satsuki skidding backward by a foot. Using the small opening, Ruby rolled toward Ryuko, grabbed her while holding the scissor blade, and instantly disappeared in a cloud of rose petals.

Satsuki looked at the rose petals as they slowly disappeared. As she looked around and couldn't see either of her targets, she sighed, and stood where she was-her hands resting on Bakuzan-waiting for one or the other to come out.

As she waited, she took note of something she saw when Ruby interfered. She didn't quite know if she was correct-she may have even been imagining things-but for a split second, she was sure that Ruby's silver eyes glowed...

* * *

"Ryuko!" Mako shouted as she ran over to Ruby, who gently sat Ryuko against a wall. She slid right next to the battered and bruised girl and started to look her over. "Oh no! This isn't good, Ryuko! It's amazing you're still awake after this kind of beating! I'd try to kiss it all back to normal, but I think this is a job for my dad! Just hold on, I'll-"

"Mako."

The girl stopped and looked up at Ruby, whose expression was completely serious. "Mako, I need you to watch over Ryuko here, can you do that for me?"

Mako blinked, before nodding with a salute. "Yep! Leave it to me, captain Ruby!"

"Thank you." With that, Ruby turned to go face Satsuki, when Ryuko's voice rang out. "Wait."

Ruby stopped, and turned to the injured girl before her. "Satsuki Kiryuin...is supposed to be mine...you don't have to drag yourself into...this mess…"

"Yes I do." She turned to fully face Ryuko. "She just tried to kill you, and it's clear she's willing to use innocent lives to get what she wants. As a huntress-training or not-I can't let it stand anymore than it has!"

Ryuko stared at her. "So you're saying that you'd go out there to fight...just for someone else's sake?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Ruby stayed quiet for a moment, before she smiled. "Because I can…"

All three of them stayed silent. Ryuko couldn't believe what she was hearing...someone who simply played a hero, because they wanted to be a hero? She had never met anyone like that in her life...yet, the more she looked at her-looked into her eyes…

Ryuko sighed as she lowered her head. "Fine then, do what you want.."

Ruby blinked, nodded, and started to walk away...before stopping to look back at Ryuko. Sure, she was going to go try and stop Satsuki, but just leaving Ryuko here to sit in pain while she did so...She couldn't just leave her.

Sighing, she walked back, kneeled right next to Ryuko, and put a hand up to her cheek. Ryuko's face, in response, went slightly red as she did this. "Um...What are you doing?"

"Ooh! She's going to kiss you back to health, right!"

"Mako…" The girl blinked as she turned to Ruby. "I need a moment of concentration...could you mind being quiet for a second."

The girl sat cross legged next to them as she nodded with her eyes closed and a smile across her face. Giving off a silent "Thank You" Ruby turned to look at Ryuko. "I'm going to unlock your Aura."

"My what?"

"Your Aura, remember-manifestation of your soul, that kind of thing."

Ryuko blinked. "Okay...will it work…"

"I have no idea. This is the first time I'm doing this..." Ruby said sincerely. She was _really_ hoping that the way Pyrrha taught her was correct.

Ryuko gulped. "...Alright then, I'm...I'm ready." She said with a flushed face.

Ruby nodded. "Now close your eyes, and concentrate."

"What do I concentrate on?

"...Just concentrate."

Doing as she said, Ryuko closed her eyes, the red on her face disappearing. Ruby closed her own eyes...and felt like something attached itself to her soul. Her eyes opened wide, before closing themselves again and her voice reciting what Pyrrha told her.

 _For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee…_

Mako watched in awe as Ruby glowed red, and as the ritual went, she watched as another red-somewhat darker in color-glow emanated from Ryuko. As Ruby removed her hand from Ryuko's cheek, both opened their eyes…

...Ryuko felt...strong. She didn't understand how-she was beaten and bloodied, her body was hurting all over, and she was almost drained of blood-yet she felt strong enough to get up and fight Satsuki again. She looked up at Ruby, who was still glowing red-save for her eyes, which were glowing a beautiful silver.

Quickly, Ruby pulled a watch from her pocket and put it in Ryuko's lap. "When that get's full, focus on healing your body up with your Aura, I'll be back soon…"

And with that, Ruby Rose walked off to face Satsuki. Ryuko watched her go...before looking down at her Seki Tekko. She wanted to help Ruby...help her fight Satsuki Kiryuin, help her return home...but what could she do…

"What can I do...when I can't even use Senketsu properly…"

"Get naked, Ryuko!"

"Huh?"

* * *

 **-HALLELUJAH-**

 **You can use your sexy outfit properly! You use it way better than Satsuki's! I can say beyond a doubt that you are not inferior to Lady Satsuki!**

 **Your boobs are bigger than her's!**

Huh?

 **I saw them!**

" **That Ryuko, she's got a great rack!" My whole family was talking about them!**

 **So don't be embarrassed! Just rip it off and GET NAKED!**

 **-HALLELUJAH-**

* * *

Ryuko stared at Mako as she stood before her, her arms held out in opposite directions. The logic of the girl seemed completely random and utterly bonkers...but...what she said. "Get...naked…"

She clenched her hand into a fist. "Senketsu…"

{Hmm?}

"Get ready for round two...I'm not done, not by a long-shot."

* * *

"...So you've finally come...Ruby Rose."

Satsuki stood with her sword in the ground as the fog started to part away...revealing a young, teenage girl walking towards her-clad in black and red, with her head covered by the hood of her red cloak that fluttered in the wind. The girl stopped just a few feet in front of her, and without a moment's hesitation removed her hood, revealing the black-red tipped hair and silver eyes underneath.

She stared at Satsuki, her expression never changing from the blank way she looked at her. Satsuki sighed, before she started to speak. "In truth...yes, being small does make one more honest, I can accept that notion. However, remaining small will only keep one weak, will have them fail to see the bigger picture of things…" She started to move into a combat stance. "...Only by having ambitions-making the masses follow your words and actions-does one become strong!"

Ruby Rose's eyes narrowed. "Then what's your ambition?" She pulled out Crescent Rose. "I have ambitions...I want to become a Huntress. I want to fight and slay monsters, and I want to protect people, my friends, my family...I want to uphold peace. But you…" She unfurled Crescent Rose, spun it around, before embedding it into the ground. "...I wouldn't know it, since I don't really know you. But from what I see, all you want is power, subjugation and wanton murder!"

Satsuki scoffed. "Protecting the innocents...what a superficial ambition. That kind of wishful thinking will only drag you down with the weak!"

"We'll see about that!" Ruby said as she disappeared in a cloud of rose petals. Satsuki turned around as Ruby appeared behind her and swung Crescent Rose at her, the two weapons colliding with one another in a splash of sparks. "As far as I can see, that _wishful thinking_ helps the weak-makes them overcome their weaknesses, emphasizes the best in themselves! That ambition doesn't drag me down, it's _my_ strength! Which I use **to make others strong!** "

" **It makes you weak!"** Satsuki swatted Ruby back, before sending a slash towards her. Ruby deflected it easily, before noticing that Satsuki started to rush her. As she lunged at Ruby, the girl disappeared as Satsuki spun around and cut a bullet as it flew at her. "You're belief in the many fails to see the cracks! It fails to see the liars and the cheats, those that would use you for their own personal gain! Do you honestly think that you can go through life trusting the many **when they just may be ready to stab you in the back!** " She leapt upwards at her and swinged downwards with Bakuzan. Ruby blocked it, before pulling the trigger with Crescent Rose. The gun lurched to the side, catching Satsuki off guard as Ruby spun around her before finally kicking her in the face.

" **It's because I place my trust in them! Because I believe in them that they would never do such a thing that fuels me!"** She shot forward toward her and slashed downward, sending Satsuki down to the ground. As the girl landed onto the ground, she looked back to see Ruby charge her. Without a second to breath, she either deflected or dodged the two slashes by the massive scythe, before seeing the weapon flying toward her like a helicopter. She catched it with her blade, remembered how her opponent used the weapon, and proceeded to spin it around her body before slamming the blade-end into the ground…

...She didn't have long to marvel at her feat however, as Ruby-at the insane speeds made possible by her semblance-slammed her feet into Satsuki's face, sending her rolling away. Ruby grabbed onto the shaft of her weapon, spinned her body on top of it, before landing on top of it. "...You only use those that follow you! **Squash them under your foot after you have no need for them! What kind of peace is there in oppression!** " She fired, sending herself flying forward with her weapon. Satsuki stood up just in time to block the blow as it came down on her. As she blocked however, Ruby fired once more, spinning the blade in a three hundred and eighty degree motion up towards her next. Satsuki barely had time to block before she flew a fair distance away from her, landing on both feet as she came down.

"What peace is there in oppression? I believe you misunderstand, it isn't oppression I bring... **It's order!** " She slashed forward towards Ruby. The force of the swing sailed towards Ruby, who sidestepped it without a problem. As she saw the second swing, however, she leapt above the follow-up. Satsuki-seeing an opportunity-slashed once again towards the girl.

Noticing that she was a sitting duck, Ruby pulled the trigger on Crescent Rose and sailed slightly upwards. Unfortunately, the scythe caught the attack, and Ruby felt a lurch as her arms were nearly yanked off. Struggling with all her might, Ruby held on as her scythe clashed against the attack. Then, with a loud yell, Ruby pulled the trigger.

The scythe won out in force, taking Satsuki's attack with it as it spun around, and around, and around before Ruby sent it flying back at Satsuki. The Student Council President's eyes went wide as she saw the attack flying toward her and moved to block the attack. As it met with her sword, the force of the attack came back not only in full, but with even more than before. The area behind Satsuki practically blew away as she struggled to hold against the attack, before she finally redirected it straight into the sky.

Ruby paused, looking at the sight stunned, before looking down at her weapon. "Eh? Did I do that?"

Satsuki let out a loud breath as the grip on her sword grew tighter. She growled as she looked up at the girl before her. She didn't even have a Kamui, yet she was capable of standing up to her, Satsuki Kiryuin!?

Ruby blinked, before her expression became serious once more. "Your "order" is wrong. It brings people nothing but suffering and tragedy! So if I have to fight you to stop it, then I will do so! **Bet on that!** " She shot forward.

Satsuki roared as she brought Bakuzan downwards onto the girl in red, putting her power into her swing. " **So you believe that you can topple my empire! What then!? There will be others who follow my example-wanting the world under their heel! What will you do then, when those few come along and "threaten the stability" of this world you believe** _ **so**_ **highly in, what will you do then!"**

Ruby spinned her weapon around her body as she got closer to the Student Council President, sending her Aura toward her weapon. " **Then I'll fight them! I'll fight every last one of you who pop up until the day I DIE!**

" **WHAT UTTER NONSENSE!"**

Both of their weapons clashed, and a shockwave flew outward, before returning to where it came from. As the power of Satsuki's Kamui began to clash with the Aura of Ruby Rose, the world seemed to start fracturing as fissures appeared in the ground. The energy seemed to build up slowly, yet more and more, until...finally, the everything seemed to explode, as Ruby and Satsuki were sent flying in opposite directions by the blast. Satsuki flew several feet away, dumbstruck by what just happened, before realizing she may hit the ground and spun in the air, landing on her feet in the process.

Ruby herself also flew, awed at how she was managing to fight someone like Satsuki-someone who beat Ryuko-when she felt something catch her weapon Crescent Rose. She looked up...to see a half healed Ryuko Matoi.

"...Ryuko!?"

" **RUBY ROSE!"** Satsuki leapt at her from where she stood, her blade poised to cut her in half. Ruby started raising Crescent Rose to block...when Ryuko stepped before her and raised her scissor blade.

"Ryuko!"

"What!? Ryuko Matoi!"

Satsuki's blade clashed with the scissor blade. Ryuko skidded backwards as she held back the blow. As she managed this, she grit her teeth. "...It ain't nonsense…"

Satsuki's eyes narrowed as Ryuko-without an awakened Kamui-started to push her back. " **It ain't nonsense at all!"**

Senketsu looked up at her. {Ryuko!}

"Yeah."

She bit down on the pin of her Seki Tekko and pulled it out. In an instant the uniform was changed from black to red in seconds. A second long pause came before the uniform exploded outward and started to reform itself around Satsuki. As the transformation finished, the front guards exploded outwards as a single eye-colored red, orange and yellow-looked outward into the world.

* * *

 _I get it now. I need to get naked._

 _Putting on a Kamui means becoming one with you! It means you becoming my skin!_

 _That's what it means to master wearing you! Isn't that right,_ _ **Senketsu?!**_

 _{Yes, that's exactly right!}_

 _Now let's do this!_ _ **Life Fiber Synchronize: Kamui...SENKETSU!**_

* * *

Everyone looked on in awe as Ryuko awakened her Kamui. Ruby stared at the girl before her as a wide smile spread across her face.

 _She's...She's mastered wearing Senketsu!_

Without a seconds hesitation, Ryuko didn't waste any time as the exhausts on Senketsu flooded with energy-shooting her forward. Satsuki reeled back as she realized how much faster she was, before she swinged Bakuzan toward her, the blade meeting with Ryuko's scissor blade in the process.

" **I feel it, this is the real you, Senketsu!"** She said with a smile on her face. Senketsu looked up at her. {This is our power, mine and yours.}

Her attacks became more rapid, before she was literally a tornado of slashes that Satsuki could barely keep up blocking. " **The reason you were drinking so much blood is because I was rejecting you out of embarrassment! The more my heart was closed, the more you yearned for a blood connection! That's what was happening, right?!"**

{Yes! And as you are right now, the blood I just drank will be more than sufficient! **You are wearing me, and I have been put on by you!** }

Finally, swinged at Satsuki, causing the Student Council President to jump back. " **SENKETSU!"**

His single eye went wide, as Ryuko gripped onto her scissor blade. The handle separated and extended out from the blade, which she grabbed onto with her other hand. The blade, meanwhile, separated as another, more longer and sharper end folded out and extended the blade's length. With a mighty yell, both Ryuko and Senketsu called out the name of her blade's new form…

" **Scissor blade: DECAPITATION MODE!"**

In one swift motion, Ryuko raised the blade, yelled out, and brought it down. Satsuki barely managed to dodge as the blade sailed over her, cutting into air. The force from the swing etched itself into the wall, as a large fissure appeared across the wall, followed by the dust flying after it before exploding outward in a shower of earth and concrete…

...Everyone looked on in stunned silence as the sudden turn of events slowly sank into their minds. Ryuko Matoi had mastered her Kamui, and was now taking on Satsuki Kiryuin completely evenly one-on-one. Ruby's mouth was open as she rushed forward, Crescent Rose held firmly in her grip as she yelled out Ryuko's name.

Satsuki meanwhile couldn't help but do one thing she thought she would never do when facing Ryuko Matoi: She smiled.

" **This fight has finally become interesting!"** She said as she took up a combat stance, her hands gripping her sword as she held it up. Ryuko herself promptly fell into her own combat stance, holding the blade forward towards Satsuki.

The two rushed at each other as their blades met, their blows sending the environment around them into turmoil as the earth shook and students were sent flying. Ruby kept running forward toward the two, dodging everything thrown at her in the process.

In the center, Ryuko and Satsuki's blades pushed against each other as sparks shot outward. " **Now you're going to tell me, Satsuki Kiryuin! Was it you who killed my father?!**

" **What good would knowing that do for you?"**

" **I don't know! But not knowing who did it, it just doesn't SIT RIGHT WITH ME!"** She roared as she sent a punch at Satsuki, who blocked it-a crater appearing in the wall behind her.

" **I have nothing to say to someone as devoid of aspirations as you!"** Satsuki retorted as she kicked at Ryuko, a similar crater in the opposite wall as she flew back a small distance. At this, Ruby shot forward.

" **You're one to talk, considering you're as obtuse with your aspirations as a frickin window!"** Ruby yelled as she slashed down with Crescent Rose, which Satsuki blocked, then swatted away.

" **I equally have nothing to say to someone with such shallow aspirations!"** Satsuki bellowed out as she swung at Ruby, who-despite blocking it-was sent flying from it. Rushing past her, Ryuko lunged toward Satsuki-her scissor blade held out behind her.

" **Everything you say, and how you talk...PISS ME OFF!"**

" **The feeling is mutual for you-BOTH OF YOU!"**

The two roared out as they charged at each other-their weapons drawn-and met together at the center of the courtyard…

...The courtyard exploded as a shockwave went out to the very walls of Honnoji Academy, before it returned to it's source and imploded on the spot. Every One-Star and No-Star student in the immediate vicinity flew outward, then back in, before being rocketed outward again. The Elite Four struggled to hold their ground as the force behind it smacked right into Gamagoori, washing over them.

Ruby-who was near the very center herself-slammed Crescent Rose into the ground, and held on for dear life as her feet nearly left the ground. Soon, she too was awash in the dust as it went outward, consuming everything it could find…

* * *

The dust began to clear...and the aftermath was revealed.

Ryuko and Satsuki stood exactly where they originally were. Both were covered in bruises and cuts, had steam dissipating from them, and had both of their blades clashed together. At first, it didn't seem like there was a clear enough winner to the fight…

...Until Ryuko dropped to one knee, her blade falling down to the ground right next to her…

...Satsuki looked down at the girl before her. It was clear-Satsuki could take her out right now if she so wanted to. Her Kamui was definitely stronger than Matoi's, and it was clear that-with effort-she could destroy Ryuko Matoi at any time. She was starting to consider it…

...When she heard the cock of a gun. She slowly looked to her right and saw Ruby Rose, her weapon now shrunken down into a form Satsuki knew was unmistakably a gun. Ruby looked at her, a look of absolute resolve on her face, as she pointed the gun directly at her.

As Satsuki looked closely at her, she saw it-a red aura suddenly envelop Ruby. Within seconds, all the minor wounds inflicted on her began to heal-all the bruises, all the cuts-until her skin was absolutely flawless as before. Her eyes narrowed at the girl...so she had healing powers too?

She brought her hand up to eye view. Whatever power she had from beforehand-the massive amount of overwhelming strength she could use from the Kamui-was now nearly depleted. She could bring more out from Junketsu, sure, but this ran two risks, one of which was blood loss, and the other she didn't want to think too deeply on. In conclusion, she was drained and battered down to nearly nothing...While the girl holding the gun at her a few feet away was clearly still in prime fighting condition-ready to take her down without a moment's notice.

It was impossible...to think of it as ending like this. Yet, here it was-Matoi at her feet, Ruby ready for _more_ battle...and Satsuki Kiryuin, exhausted and beaten to a mere sliver of her power.

She did the only thing that came to mind: She started to laugh. She laughed at how absurd the situation was. She had won the battle against Ryuko Matoi, _yet had lost the war altogether!_ She would most likely lose to Ruby Rose, and her empire would crumble beneath her...so she laughed, like several other leaders of the past who equally realized what came next…

"...I'm gonna crush them."

...Huh?

She stopped laughing looked down. Matoi was glaring up at her, a distinct fire in her eyes. "What did you say?"

"I said I'm gonna crush them-no-me and Ruby are gonna crush them! I don't know what the hell you're thinking, but we're gonna take all that lofty crap you spout about aspirations and ambitions, and stomp on every last one of them until they're nothing but pieces of crap left in a gutter! **Then you'll tell us about what we want! Do you hear me Satsuki...We're gonna crush them...all of them!"**

Satsuki stared at the girl. She had to be joking! All she originally wanted was to find who killed her father...now she wanted to bring her down, brick by brick, when it was already within reach!?

She looked over at Ruby Rose. "Are you in agreement with her?"

Ruby pulled a lever on her weapon as she nodded. "Clear as water…"

Satsuki couldn't believe what she was hearing! Was it that they simply hated her? That their moral code didn't desire to kill her or destroy her completely? She just could not understand the logic behind this…

...What she did understand, though, was that it was _certainly_ entertaining. She grinned as she raised her hand openly, soon met by the feeling of Bakuzan's scabbard in the process. She sheathed her blade and started toward the set of stairs that extended out to the ground. "How amusing. You're going to crush my ambitions-the both of you?"

She walked up the stairs a few flights, before turning right on her heel. " **Honnoji Academy is my kingdom! If you two say you will topple it all by yourselves, then I accept your challenge! Beginning tomorrow, all clubs under my command will be after both of your heads! Do you still think you can win?!"**

Ruby put away Crescent Rose and walked up next to Ryuko, who started to stand up and speak. "You bet your ass we do."

Both of them pointed their weapons up toward the Student Council President. "We won't stop, not until every one of your soldiers are down for the count!"

Satsuki smiled. " **As you wish. Then defeat each and every student who comes after you two! If you do, then Junketsu and I will face you two again."**

"And if we win, you're gonna tell us everything."

"We're in agreement, then."

"Give us a contract and we'll sign it if you want."

Satsuki smiled. This looked like it will be an interesting few months ahead…

Up above, in a nearby window, Aikuro Mikisugi looked on at the sight below. "Forcing Matoi, Rose, and the students to fight? Just what is that little lady thinking?"

* * *

 **Hours Later...**

* * *

Ruby and Ryuko stood outside the gate to Honnoji Academy, looking out at the sunset before them. Ryuko was still battered and bruised from the fight earlier, while Ruby was-save for a small ache in her side-completely fine.

Ryuko sighed. "That was one hell of a fight…"

"Yes...it was...I'm exhausted."

Ryuko glanced over at the girl right next to her, and her expression turned sad. "I'm sorry…"

"For what?"

"For dragging you into my own fight here. I know you probably don't want to fight and just get home, so for that I'm-"

"It's okay!"

"...Are you sure?" She turned to the girl right next to her, who also turned to face her.

"Ryuko...You and Mako are the only friends I've had ever since I got stuck in this world. If trouble is going to come and find you, then I would be happy to help you through it all...even with that embarrassing...how should I say it…"

{I'm right here, you know…} Senketsu commented. Ruby flinched as both she and Ryuko looked down at the uniform. "No! I'm not trying to be offensive or anything...I'll just have to get used to looking at Ryuko while...while…" She groaned as her arms slumped down. Ryuko held back a chuckle as she took a step towards Ruby.

"In that case, if you're going to help me take down Satsuki and find my dad's killer, then I'll help you with finding your way back home! You ever need my help, then you got it, deal!" She held out her hand to Ruby, who glanced at it, then back at Ryuko, and smiled.

"Deal!"

She took her hand. And both nodded at each other with a smile. As their hands gripped together, two various shades of red seemed to emanate from the pair. The shades would grow brighter and brighter, until the light was almost blinding, and even the sun could look down on it with a smile…

* * *

In an office far, far away from Honnoji, a woman sat back in her chair, marveling at a spool of bright red, almost glowing thread. She wasn't smiling...if anything, she was tired, bored beyond belief, desperately waiting for something of moderate entertainment to come along…

...And as if on cue, a distinct feeling washed over the woman-sending a shiver through her spine. She sat up in her chair...looking down at the door to her office. That was impossible...there was no way she was here...it was completely impossible…

" _How can you be here, back on this world...you died a long time ago…So how...how are you here from your world...from Remnant?"_

* * *

 **Crimson Incandescence.**

 **Chapter 5: She Goes Down!**

 **Part 1: End.**

* * *

Title Reference: She Goes Down-Motley Crue.

 **OH MY GODDDD. IT'S DONE! IT'S FINALLY DONE! CHAPTER 5 IS FINALLY FUCKING DONE! MAKO MANKANSHOKU HALLELUJAH HELL YEAH MUTHERFUCKAS! WHOO! WHOO! WHOOOOOO!**

 ***Ahem* Excuse me...seeing red again.**

 **So, first...Thank you for the wait! I didn't have much time over the weeks to fully write the chapter until I had a full day to myself. And as you can see, with this chapters** _ **INSANE**_ **length, there's a very good reason for this!**

 **Now, since I'm exhausted from all of this writing in one major sitting, I'm gonna make this last part about as short as posslbe. First: I think the beginning parts are the weakest of the chapter, hook, line, and fucking sinker. I think I could do better on this part than how I did, and I feel it's a little rushed. Maybe, one of these days, if I ever get back to this chapter I'll just rewrite the beginning. For now though, it'll have to do!**

 **Now, for the fight against Satsuki...hoooh...I feel like a symphony just went on in my head (technically, it does, considering I listen to music while writing). Now with Ryuko's part in the fight, I really wanted to portray her as much more smarter when fighting Satsuki to some extent, taking Senketsu and Ruby's warnings at face value, and adapting appropriately to the situation as best she can. Ryuko herself seemed pretty adaptable throughout the rest of the anime, so why not, huh!?**

 **Also, in case you're wondering. The little "chemistry experiment" idea that Ryuko has comes from the movie Red. Just watch the entirety of the CIA Headquarters infiltration scene and you'll know what I'm talking about.**

 **Next, the Ruby VS Satsuki part (FUCK YEA!). This is, in my book, the best part of the chapter. I really wanted to have Ruby clash with Satsuki not just on a physical level, but a sort of personal level. All the while showing just how strong Ruby Rose is in this universe when in comparison to her home universe. I say that I succeeded with flying colors (though you're just as inclined to disagree with me as you are to agree).**

 **And the last half...decent. Maybe a little rushed, maybe not...but I still enjoyed writing this part...especially the challenge and the very ending. I think this ending is MUCH better than previous chapters, and a very excellent way to end part one.**

 **Speaking of which, ALL THE FORESHADOWING! Did anyone notice the more subtle moments of this. I'm actually surprised I wrote it-my mind just works on overdrive, so I had no idea I was going to write it like this. I'd say I'm impressed with myself at least.**

 **OH Boy! Excuse me, I'm still reeling from an entire day of writing.**

 **Alright, so the first part of the story is finally done, Whoo! Next up is the second part of the story, which goes from episode four of the Kill la Kill anime to episode seven...namely, all of the filler up to the Naturals Election.**

 **I think I'm going to write the No-Day event as an omake, since the episode is primarily a "funny" episode instead of a serious, plot intensive one. It could go either way, though...it'll have to be left up to how I feel about it (and how you do too!).**

 **With that all said though,** **Part 1: Vengeance and Remnant's** **has officially ended. Next up is the second part:**

* * *

 **Part 2: The Strangest Days.**

Theme: Gazoline-H-Blockx

* * *

 **With this next part, it's bound to be slightly longer than the last part, and some of the chapters may also be as long as this one. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED…**

 **(P.S. I also thought of making** **This Will Be the Day by Jeff Williams** **to be the theme for this part, but decided it would fit more with the third part instead. Even then, I don't know if I'll use that or Time to Say Goodbye...)**

 **So to wrap this up. First, let me thank you all who have kept up with the story from the start of it all, and to those that are just starting this fic, then welcome aboard! It's always great to have new readers!**

 **With that, remember-REVIEW! And if you want, favorite and follow if you so choose! And with all of that out, let me drop a double whammy! (You know, in case the next chapter is an omake.)**

 **Omake: What's the name of the song, EXPLOSIVO! Don't know what it's about, but it's good to go!**

 **Chapter 6/7: Searching, Seek and Destroy!**

 **For Fun, Fedoras, and-**

* * *

 _Who are you calling the size of an ant, you idiot. I'll take your cat ears and shove them down your throat!_

 **...One moment please…**

 _ **EDWARD ELRIC, SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH BEFORE I SHOVE YOUR AUTOMAIL FOOT UP YOUR ASS! AND STOP ANTAGONIZING BLAKE, SHE'S ALREADY HAD ENOUGH SHIT TO DEAL WITH FOR FUCK'S SAKE!**_

… ***Sigh* What the hell. Cat's out of the bag now...**

* * *

 **CrazeStasis Presents:**

 **A Scientific Dilemma. (Working Title)**

Coming Soon…

* * *

 **For Fun, Fedoras, and Insanity...peace.**

 **-CrazeStasis**


	6. EXTRA 1-Explosivo!

**NOTE: I do not own either RWBY or Kill la Kill. RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth, and Kill la Kill belongs to studio TRIGGER…**

* * *

 _Mmm...So fluffy…_

Ruby Rose felt around her as her arms wrapped around whatever was exactly "fluffy." The texture was purely soft and puffy, yet there was a certain sticky feel to it as well. She opened her eyes slightly to see what she was feeling…

It was a pink cloud. Slightly amazed, she pulled on a part of the cloud and looked at it-a distinct compulsion to eat it itching the back of her mind. She put it in her mouth, as the sweet taste of cotton candy overcame her.

 _Oh...Oh, it's sooo goooooooood…_

She started pulling even more of the cloud off-a hand sized chunk removed each time, bit by bit and processed straight into her mouth.

In her rabid quest to stuff herself silly with the sweet cotton candy, she felt something bop the back of her head. Rubbing where it hit she looked up...to see a chocolate chip cookie floating away from her-spinning like a coin tossed into the air.

It was then that she noticed the world around her. A floating buffet of sweet danced around her and in front of her eyes. Cupcakes, cookies, chocolate, strawberries, and many others flew around her, bobbing between clouds of cotton candy and floating rivers of milk. In the far distance, various mounds of white cake covered in white frosting and multicolored sprinkles surrounded her...and on the very top of one stood a large chocolate covered, multilayered, round cake.

She was drooling at the sight, and her eyes lit up like stars. She started to take a step forward when a familiar voice boomed outward.

"Ah! I see that you've spotted the chocolate fortress far away!"

She turned and looked up. Sitting on a golden cupcake with yellow frosting and lavender colored sprinkles floated down her sister Yang-trading her trademark uniform with a sort of old fashioned tuxedo colored brown and purple that exposed the midriff, with a yellow flower sticking out of the nearby pocket, and large-almost comical-shoes. A large grin was plastered on her face. Ruby followed up herself with a massive grin of her own at the sight of her sister. "Yang!"

She waved her hand out around her. "Hello! Kind sister! And welcome to the Land of Sweets!" The cupcake carrying her floated right next to Ruby, making the two sisters nearly level-eyed. "Yes, across a fair distance, and standing among the peaks of the frosted mountains stands the chocolate fortress! Home of the most dastardly of villains-Weiss Schnee, the Cold Hearted Popsicle Princess!"

She held out a hand to Ruby. "Come!, I will take you to face her, and save the land!"

Ruby nodded excitedly as she practically jumped onto the cupcake. Within seconds they were in the air, and within a few more they were sailing across the open expanse of land-made entirely of various sweets-and given only a glimpse of certain places as they quickly approached the Chocolate Fortress.

They rose to the very top of the fortress. Ruby-dangling from her sister's waist as she held on for dear life-felt her feet touch the soft ground (or should she call it frosting) and let go of her sister as she stood on her own two legs. She looked over at Yang, who decided to stay on her floating cupcake as she held out her hand above her. Within seconds, a large red and white candy cane materialized above her and floated into her grip.

"Here! It's dangerous to go alone. Take this and save the Candy Kingdom!" She handed Ruby the candy cane, who took it with a big smile on her face.

As she started getting a feel for the cane, she heard a sinister voice echo around her. " _ **Well...it seems I have some...uninvited guests who want all of the cake to themselves…"**_

The world seemed to be shaking as Ruby struggled to hold her balance. Yang's brow furrowed as she looked around them nervously for any sign of Weiss. Her wish was granted soon enough, as the top of the cake before them started to crack and fall apart, before exploding upward as several multicolored popsicle's shot out from what was now a hole in front of them.

A massive, pale hand rose out from the same hole and slammed itself onto the roof, sending Ruby and Yang back a few feet. Soon afterward, a white mop of hair rose itself out from the hole as well-tied into a signature ponytail on the side of her blue eyes-one of which had a scar over it-looked down at them as a large, sinister smile graced her lips. " **You-Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long-wish to end my prosperous rule over the Candy Kingdom. Then I-Weiss Schnee: The Popsicle Princess-will deal with your insolence personally!"**

She held her hand out to her side as a popsicle materialized in her grip. Her smile grew wider as the popsicle-originally a normal sized popsicle in comparison to Weiss-elongated into what one could only consider a Popsicle sword. She pointed at the two of them and laughed. " **Come heroes, and feel my wrath!"**

She started to swing the popsicle blade toward the two of them. Ruby raised her candy cane to defend...when the blade promptly shattered, earning a shocked glance from the princess. " **What! How?"**

"Forgive my tardiness, friends…"

Everyone turned to look at the newcomer. A knight stood at the edge of the hole-their armor blacker than the colorful environment of the Candy Kingdom. The knight turned toward Ruby-a large pocky stick gripped in their hand-and pulled off their helmet...revealing a mane of black hair, amber colored eyes, and a warm smile underneath.

Ruby's smile widened as she recognized her friend Blake Belladonna-who instantly appeared next to her in a burst of speed. "I have come to help, Miss Rose. Please allow me to assist in this battle."

Ruby nodded as a laugh echoed out from the Princess. " **I see you wish to join them in their fate, Pocky Knight! If that is to be the case-"** Another popsicle blade materialized in her hand. " **-Then come! LET US DO BATTLE!"**

Ruby Rose grinned as she looked upon her friend-slash-enemy and started charging. Her voice ringing out in the process…

* * *

Ruby shot up from her futon, her arms raised above her head, as she shouted out to the world. " **-FOR THE CANDY KINGDOM!"**

Silence followed. Ruby paused as she realized that it was all just a dream and looked around. She wasn't in her dorm room-there weren't any haphazard bunk beds or some notably decent decorations, but several futons and an otherwise near barren room. A small table the only piece of furniture sitting in the room…

...That's right. She wasn't in her dorm room, she wasn't even on her own world of Remnant. Instead, she was on Earth, in the home of the Mankanshoku's with another girl: Ryuko Matoi…

...Or...at least that was how it usually was. Ruby looked around and saw that the futons were all empty. She looked over to the dresser. Senketsu wasn't hanging on the side.

She sat there confused. _Where is everyone?_

The door behind her slid open and she turned, seeing Sukuyo Mankanshoku with her own outfit neatly cleaned and folded under a small "bento." She blinked as the two of them made eye contact before giving a warm smile in her direction. "Ah, Ruby! You're awake now. Excellent, I had just finished cleaning your clothes and thought I might as well sit them right next to you until you wake up. But since you're awake, here you go!" She handed Ruby her clothes.

Ruby looked at her clothes before smiling and nodding in appreciation-taking the wrapped clothes and quickly putting them on as fast as she could. As she did this, she noticed Sukuyo walking away towards the kitchen and called out to her. "Ah! Mrs. Mankanshoku-"

"Please, call me Sukuyo."

"Uh, Sukuyo...Where did Ryuko and Mako go? They weren't here when I woke up."

Sukuyo's head perked back as she looked at Ruby. "That's right! They woke up at four AM earlier today and rushed off to school! I guess they forgot about you…"

"I guess…" Ruby said as her left eye twitched. They forgot about her! Come on! She had been staying there for as long as Ryuko, so how could they forget her. She sighed in frustration as she tied her boots and stood up to check the feel of them.

She walked over to the mirror and smiled at her outfit...with only one thing missing. She walked over to her backpack, unzipped it, and pulled out the one thing she was missing: her red cloak. She looked back in the mirror and nodded in appreciation before picking her backpack up and wrapping it over her back, then picking up her weapon on the way out the door.

She stopped in the doorway of the kitchen, where Sukuyo was busy making...whatever it was that she was making, and waved. "I'm heading off for school, maybe I can catch up to the two of them."

She ran out the front door and sprinted at high speeds toward Honnoji. Soon after, Sukuyo followed out, a used spatula still in her hands.

"Ah, I FORGOT TO TELL YOU! TODAY IS NO-LATE DAY!"

...Ruby would never hear it...nor would she discover it until a few minutes later.

* * *

 **Crimson Incandescence.**

 **EXTRA-Explosivo!**

* * *

"...It's so quiet today." Ruby said as she momentarily slowed herself, taking in the shantytown environment around her with a curious gaze.

What was going on? She was sure she would see _someone_ moving around in the town-hear people chatting and getting into arguments with each other. Yet it was silent and deserted...almost like Mountain Glenn…

She took a few more steps forward, a single soul still not in sight. She readjusted the backpack hanging from her shoulder...she was starting to get nervous…

...Then she heard it-a set of screams in the far distance, towards the direction of Honnoji. Her brow furrowed as her pace quickened once more into a full on sprint. She ran down the road until she saw a turn up ahead and, with an outstretched hand, gripped a nearby pole to rapidly shift her in the same direction. She sprinted a fair distance more...until she skidded to a stop at the first few steps of Honnoji...

...At least, she thought it was Honnoji...Did Honnoji have a death trap-obstacle course for it's front stairs!?

She stared at the strange construction before her. A massive web of prebuilt routes that all led back up to Honnoji. Throughout these routes were various traps of multiple shapes and sizes-drills on each side, a ferris wheel-like grinder, a cage holding a sort of large white...cat? All of these led down back to what she stood before herself...a set of stairs.

They seemed tame...but considering there were a few unconscious bodies surrounding the edge of the bottom stair, she had the idea that there was something else to these stairs.

She looked at it all in confusion. _When did this appear?_

She started forward-taking note to step around the knocked out students lying on the ground. As she reached the first step, she started up the stairs…

...It was after she took the fifth step that the stairs shifted, turning into a completely flat surface that would send her tumbling back down.

She took notice, and instantly pressed her foot down hard enough to shoot her up towards the top like a bullet. As she reached the top, she pulled out Crescent Rose and embedded it into the top stair, using it like an anchor. Her body motioned upward in the direction she was heading before slumping back down towards the ground beneath her feet.

She let out a sigh as she wiped her head in relief. Her feet planted themselves on the ground, and she pulled Crescent Rose out from the ground before sheathing it under her cloak.

"-Well, this is unexpected...Just what _is_ going on!?"

" **YOU!"**

She jumped in terror-almost thinking that Weiss had found her-and flipped around. There was a console-flanked by two One-Star students-with a big red button and a large monitor on the front with the word "Checkpoint" and a fraction of "Nine hundred and ninety nine over one" on the front. Standing before it were two familiar faces that she recognized instantly.

The first was a boy-notably short and bald, with wide green eyes and a missing tooth. The second was a much taller girl with blonde hair tied in two pigtails and two blue eyes. One of which was notably missing the telescope-like eyepiece from before.

Both were in regular, run-of-the-mill No-Star uniforms, which would've thrown Ruby off...had it not been for the fact that these were the first two students she met here beyond Satsuki and the Elite Four, Ryuko, and Mako.

Omiko Hakodate stared at her in surprise as Takaharu Fukuroda pointed a finger at her, his teeth grating on each other and his eyes wide with abject fury. He started stomping towards Ruby, his mouth beginning to run with a lengthy moment of profanity. " **Y-Y-YOU BITCH, I remember ,Iouttathrottlethehelloutofyoursorryass,youdamnlittle-"**

Ruby was slightly frightened for a second...when she remembered. As Takaharu continued on his rant of vulgarity and anger, she looked over at Omiko. "Why aren't you in your Two-Star uniforms?"

Both flinched as Takaharu paused. Omiko gulped down air, before she started to explain. "W-Well...if we fail Satsuki in any way, shape, or form, we lose the honor of wearing a Goku Uniform beyond a No-Star...and we can't re-apply for one until after a certain amount of days...the last of which is supposed to be today…"

Ruby blinked as she looked back at Omiko, then back at Takaharu-whose look of terror said it all: they were technically powerless now...and Ruby Rose _had_ previously proven a few days ago that she could take on _Satsuki Kiryuin..._ _ **in a Kamui…**_

...Every bad memory Ruby had of Fukuroda seemed to break down the floodgates of her mind. She looked down at Takaharu-her silver eyes glowing underneath the shadow of her bangs. A grin going from nearly ear to ear spread across her face and a sinister giggle started to escape her.

Takaharu had gone pale as he saw Ruby make the realization...and turned completely chalk white when she started to pull out the still-furled Crescent Rose…

* * *

"Ah...Now that I've got that out my system...do _you_ know what's going on?" Ruby Rose asked as she stood in front of a silent Omiko and Takaharu-whose head was covered from the neck up in various lumps of multiple shades.

Hakodate blinked. "...You mean, you don't know what today is?"

"No, what is today?"

Hakodate stared at her as if she had something on her face. She looked over at the boy right next to her as he tried his best to imitate a pinata, before looking back at the silver eyed girl before her. "...I'm guessing then that you have no idea what No-Late Day is, do you…"

" _Fa-Fa, Feens uuk iz on fy sidd foday!"_

Crescent Rose came down on Takaharu's head-which left a groaning Takaharu in its wake-before returning to Ruby as she answered Omiko. "No...what's No-Late Day?"

For a second, Hakodate looked at her like she had said something that would get anyone in trouble. Then, swallowing, she paused before a single word came out of her mouth. "...W-Well...I'd be happy to explain...if we can make a deal of sorts first…"

"...Then excuse me, but I'm gonna have to move fast if I want to make it past this mess before the first bell." Ruby honestly wanted nothing to do with the two of them, considering their actions toward her and Ryuko previously. With barely any effort, she sidestepped Omiko and proceeded to walk toward the next obstacle-a large part of the road that looped upward once before coming to a steep incline at the top.

"WAIT!" She heard Hakodate call out from behind her. "I-IT'S NOTHING MAJOR OR HUMILIATING! ALL WE'RE ASKING IS THAT YOU HELP US MAKE IT TO CLASS ON TIME!"

Ruby paused in her step. Make it to class on time? "And why should I help you do that…"

" _Fesy, fe don't fave hoku-uniforms anyfore, yew bounded fy face infide-fe're utterfy hopefess…"_

Ruby paused at the words...thinking them over, before she looked over at Omiko. "So...what did he say?"

Takaharu's instant tensing up brought a small smirk to Ruby's face. Omiko ignored her partners building rage as she began to speak. "The point of the matter is...we need your help if we're to make it to school on time...and you have no idea what No-Late day entails. If you help us, this arrangement would be beneficial to the both of us. So please...please help us."

Omiko was practically on her knees now, crying and doing her best to evoke a "puppy-eye" look. Ruby's eye twitched, before she sighed. "Why not just take one of the tram cars-" She pointed in the direction of the trams. "I'm sure those will work out for...you."

She was just starting to turn her head in that direction when she looked...and was honestly without words when she saw the destruction of the tram cars below-tangled in large whip-like appendages that she recognized were of Gamagoori, as the bodies of unconscious students littered the ground around them.

She stared at the destruction, before looking down at Omiko before her-her look still one of a puppy-eyed girl crying her eyes out-then at Takaharu-his face still sunken in from the beating she had given him earlier. Then, she looked away and sighed in frustration…

"...Fine."

* * *

" _So what is No-Late Day exactly?"_

" _Well...No-Late Day is an annual event in Honnoji Academy. It's generally supervised and worked on by the school's trap department, a subdivision of the Disciplinary committee…"_

" _The one run by Gamagoori?"_

" _Exactly…"_

* * *

The three of them stared at the trap before them...or more precisely, the _cage_ before them.

Before them stood a large cage which blocked the way towards the school. Inside, a large white and black-striped cat-like creature stood before them, licking its lips. Behind it, a moderately sized hole was in place...most likely the only way to move forward to the school.

Ruby stared at the creature through the bars separating it from them, her eyes both lit with curiosity and and amazement. "What is it?"

Omiko and Takaharu almost fell face first onto the ground. "You mean you don't know what a white tiger is?"

Ruby glared at them in response. She had been in this world for several days already, and while there were some classes looking at various wildlife, her knowledge of the various animals around the world was sorely lacking. Gosh, it was even the same back on Remnant-she knew wolves and various small creatures existed...but a white tiger?

Omiko stared in astonishment, before sighing as she began to explain what it really was. "A white tiger...it's essentially a variant of the Bengal tiger, though judging from the size of this one...even I'm questioning if it's a normal tiger."

Ruby looked closer at the tiger, noting it's absolutely massive size. The head of the beast practically reached up to just an inch between it and the cage ceiling, and it's overall width was wide enough that she had to lean to her side to see the way through when they first walked up.

She continued to look at the animal, until her eyes met theirs. It stared her down with a look that indicated a spark of intelligence in it's eyes...and a predatory undertone that said to her, as succinctly as possible: " _I'm the king here...and I'll eat you for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."_

That was when the first instinct in Ruby went into overdrive-back up, think up a plan, and go with that instead. She took a few steps backwards, until Omiko was to her right. "So, do you have an idea to take care of this obstacle?"

Omiko answered immediately. "Yeah, You go in, and take it down with your giant scythe-gun-thing-whatever, easy!"

"Yeah...that's a good ideaaa **auwwait a minute.** "

"What?"

Ruby looked dead on at Omiko. "First: Crescent Rose is a scythe and a customizable, high impact, sniper rifle-"

"Oh, gee, like we didn't know that already-what like you show it off everyday since you got here…" Takaharu snorted.

"You, be quiet-" Ruby pointed at the small teen, before pointing at Omiko. "-And SECOND: I refuse to fight and kill that big guy over there!"

"Oh, come on! We're gonna have to get past him someway or another. Or would you rather we try and rush past him in the hopes that we don't become his next lunch!"

"Well sorry to tell you, but I don't exactly go after my opponents with the intent to kill! And I refuse to do so-tiger, other animal, or any other living thing...except Grimm, but that's another story…"

"Wha...ohhh...so then what do you suggest!"

"Well! I...umm...ahh…" Ruby was at a loss. She had no real answer herself now that she thought about it.

Takaharu watched this all with boredom clear across his face. He yawned as he began to mutter to himself. " _Geez, if it was a member of the boxing club facing this damn thing we would've been far past it already. Ah well, either way one or the others gonna have to budge, just hope that the stupid red...riding...hood?"_

Takaharu looked up as he realized that the two girls had stopped arguing and were now looking at him. As he looked up at the two with dread building within, the girls looked back at each other, then back towards Takaharu, then repeating the same pattern until finally their eyes fell onto the tiger. Looking back at Fukuroda-who was sweating bullets now-the two smiled, as he started to cower away from them…

"Umm...Why are you looking at me like that?"

The two didn't respond. All Takaharu could see was a distinct red blur, followed by a something tightening around his arm. As he looked and realized that Ruby was grabbing him, he felt his other arm be seized as Omiko grappled him and-with red riding hood-started dragging him towards the cage.

"HEY, WAIT A MINUTE! I CAN'T FIGHT THAT OVERGROWN CAT! I DON'T HAVE MY GEAR! LISTEN TO ME, DAMMIT! I CAN'T FIGHT THAT THING, I'll DIE IF I EVEN TRY! PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME FIGHT IT, I BEG YOUPLEASESPAREMEDAMMITAHHH!"

The two girls tossed him inside. Takaharu landed on his face as he found himself inside the tiger's cage. Rapidly turning around, he faced the bars once more. "GET ME OUT OF HERE-"

He froze as the audible slam of a paw echoed to his right. Shaking uncontrollably, he slowly turned around as he came face to face with the massive white tiger. The animal looked down at him with piercing, cold eyes...and as a whimper started to escape Takaharu, he could swear that the tiger started to smile at him…

...Then it dived right toward him…

As the loud screams and roars echoed out from the cage, Omiko and Ruby stood on the edges of the cage. Omiko pulled a small emery board from her bag and started to file her nails, while Ruby reached into her backpack, pulling out a magazine dedicated to various weapons of any and all kinds. Ruby flipped open past the articles to the first page and began to read.

Soon after that, the screams, yells, and growls slowly died down. Though they initially ignored it at first, the forboding silence that came from the cage after awhile started to get to Ruby. Soon a thought entered her head: did Takaharu...not make it? Had she perhaps...been too hard on him?

Slowly she put the magazine away, brought the backpack onto her back, and started to turn and look into the cage…

...That was when the large white tiger barreled out from the cage, smashing through the bars with ease. It's head and face covered in multiple lumps and bruises as it flew past Ruby and Omiko.

The beast landed a few feet away, knocked out from whatever had happened inside. Ruby and Omiko looked at each other in amazement, before looking inside the cage itself.

Takaharu stood, somewhat slumped over. His uniform had been torn to shreds, exposing his now scarred physique to the two of them. He was breathing heavily-his knuckles covered to the brim with blood and bruises.

As the realization that Takaharu had just beaten a massive white bengal tiger senseless started to sink in, Ruby and Omiko looked over at each other once again...before glancing back at Fukuroda, both giving him a thumbs up in approval.

"Good job!"

" **FUCK YOU! BOTH OF YOU!"**

* * *

" _So what's so special about it?"_

" _Well, it's in the name...you try to make it to school on time. If you don't make it, then you are officially expelled from the academy…"_

" _...Seriously?"_

" _Yep. It's done every year as a way to officially weed out the weak and find those worthy of Lady Satsuki's attention and approval. A sort of...trial, if you will."_

* * *

" **NO SONG, NO WAY PAST! SING YOUR HEART OUT, HEATHENS!"**

Ruby stared at the words with bemusement. Glancing at the machine nearby, then back at the words, her mind started to figure out what it wanted…

"It...It... **It wants us to sing!"**

Ruby sat down in a fetal position. The way was blocked by a gate in front of them that encompassed the entire path, with both sides lined with a sort of monitor. Right next to the gate was a karaoke machine, as well as a microphone hanging on the wall nearby.

Hakodate paused for a minute, as she asked a question to Ruby. "You mean you don't know how to sing…"

"I do...I'm just terrible at it."

Omiko looked at the large gate before them. How were they going to get past? She wasn't exactly confident in her singing. It was most likely going to be that her singing would end up shattering a window in shame more than anything else. So if Ruby can't sing well, and she couldn't do well either...that left...

...A notable chuckle came from behind them. The two of them turned to Takaharu-a sly smirk spread across his face. "...So neither of you can sing, you say?" He took a step forward, advancing toward the karaoke machine. "Well...since there's nothing much else to do...why don't you let me handle this instead."

He reached the machine, pressed a few buttons, then grabbed the microphone…

* * *

 **A few minutes later…**

* * *

" _Llllove and compassion, their day is coming...all else are castles built in the air."_

" _And I wonder when we are ever gonna change...Living under the fear till nothing else remains…"_

" _All the children say!"_

" _ **We don't need another hero!"**_

Ruby and Hakodate watched on in a mix of astonishment and slight distaste as Takaharu Fukuroda sang his heart out. His singing actually being very, _very_ good from what the two of them could hear. Really, Ruby would almost compliment Takaharu on how well his singing was…

...If not for his choice of song. Omiko's eye twitched as Ruby looked over at her. "What is he singing…"

"It's a song from an old Australian movie...a favorite of Takaharu, if I remember correctly...uhg."

Ruby looked back at Takaharu, well on his way to the next verse. As his song was well within the halfway mark, however, Ruby noticed the monitors on the sides of the gate. Both had lit up-showing a vertical bar that filled up the more Takaharu sang. And as she could see, both were nearly filled up.

Snapping out of her stupor, she shifted her feet to where she could run at any moment. Her arm wrapped around Omiko's waist, earning a small cry of surprise from the girl. "W-What are you doing?"

"-Bracing ourselves."

Takaharu reached one more verse, hitting the high note like a sledgehammer hits a cinder block. In that moment, the gate opened…

Ruby and Omiko bolted forward at a breakneck speed. Ruby held out another arm, clotheslining Takaharu and bringing him along with them in the process.

They shot through the gate instantaneously, before the two doors slammed shut just as fast as they had opened. Ruby held on to the two of them as best she could, before she finally slowed-landing onto the ground and rolling to a stop, with the other two rolling along with her.

 _Ow...that kinda hurt._ Ruby pushed herself up, kneeling on the road as she looked toward Omiko. "Well...we made it...yay." She said, raising her arm in appreciation.

Omiko smiled in relief. "Yep...and it's all thanks to Takaharu...isn't that right...Takaharu?"

Lying just a few feet away from them-semiconscious from being clotheslined-Takaharu could only stay still from the pain as a thought repeated itself in his mind.

" _Yeah...it's official...going to kill you two one of these days...one of these days."_

* * *

" _Soo...since you two were once part of Satsuki's forces, then you must've had to go through this sort of predicament before, right."_

" _Heh, don't get too carried away. While your guess is sound, those with Two-Star uniforms could clear this course easily. And besides...we never needed to."_

" _Really?"_

" _Yep...just take a luxury ride up to the school...no need to worry about traps and surprises in the slightest!"_

" _Oh...so you're saying you don't know if there's a Two-Star who's done the course before...including you."_

" _Exactly...wait, HEY!"_

* * *

"You've gotta be kidding me…"

The three of them looked on at the large open clearing before them...or more specifically, the large bus that drove through the large clearing...as multiple explosions went off around wherever it drove. Ruby looked on in silence at the sight as Takaharu himself watched halfheartedly. "...I remember this from last year...I lost several good club candidates to this thing."

"You mean this was here last year as well?"

"Yeah…" Omiko said. "...As well as the year before that, and the year before that-along with the crushers, the lava pits, the spring trap, the fools path with the cheese and **damn pie.** "

"You're still feeling sore over that from two years ago?"

" **Of course I do! I like cheese, dammit!"** Omiko screeched, earning her nothing but a smirk from Takaharu.

Ruby didn't even respond, simply turning to Omiko. "Who would be so cruel as to subject students to stuff like this?"

Omiko opened her mouth to speak, before being interrupted by Takaharu. "-Some poor schoolgirl who runs the trap club and gets mocked frequently-name's Maiko or something."

Ruby didn't respond, only turning to the minefield before them. A girl would do all this? Was it because she was bullied and made fun of all the time...this was way too extreme. She even knew that Cardin was a bully back in Beacon, but he never subjected anyone to death traps!

For a minute, she did nothing, only hearing the small talk between Omiko and Fukuroda behind her. Eventually, she sighed as she started to take a step forward. "I'll use my speed to detonate a fair amount of mines in a specific radius...you guys can follow afterward…"

Omiko and Takaharu paused before looking at Ruby. "Uhh...Okay."

They watched Ruby take another step...before shifting forward and, in a single instant, disappear in a blur of red and rose petals. This was soon followed by several mines exploding seconds after the blur ran over them-each explosion happening almost a second after the last.

The two of them stood at the end of the minefield, watching the sight unfold. As Ruby continued to clear out the minefield, Takaharu still remembered the moment a second ago-about the "Cheese-Trail incident." He looked over at Omiko. "So what happened with that little incident?"

Omiko's face flashed with irritation, before she looked away. "Everyone all agreed to never talk about it again."

"How did we pull that all off?"

"I threatened to tell everyone about their dirty little secrets... _including that incident with gamagoori a week before that..._ _ **remember?**_ "

"Oh yeah...now I do…" He groaned as he remembered the feeling his ass was feeling for weeks. It's also the main reason why he followed Sanageyama more than the Disciplinary Committee head, considering how Sanageyama treated him better.

They were silent for a minute, when another thought crossed his mind.

"Remember when Jack Naito first came here a year back and had to do his first No-Late Day?"

"He kept getting smacked around by nearly every obstacle that he had to get past, and nearly fell into a pool of sharks…" Both of them grinned at that statement. The look on Naito's face at the time was priceless. Takaharu still remembered too-after all, he still had a picture of it on his phone.

After about a minute or two of discussion and small talk, the sounds of explosions began to die down, until it was almost silent. They both saw Ruby skid to a stop, look around, then turn toward them-waving her arm in the air. "Alright! All mines have been cleared out, it's safe to walk over now!"

"Alright...time to get a move on…" Takaharu said as he stretched his arms and took the first step.

Nothing seemed to happen when he stepped on the ground. He took another step, then another, and another until he found it to be otherwise safe. Breathing a sigh of relief, he took another step...and took a full face of dust and explosive as he stepped on the lone mine left.

For a minute, all three stood where they were in silence, looking at each other in shock. It was only after Takaharu looked over at Ruby with a face of indignation that the quiet was broken. " **You left the last mine alone on purpose, didn't you!"**

Ruby didn't say anything, and her face was almost like stone. Then Ruby looked away from Takaharu, attempting to hide the smirk plastered onto her face.

" **SO YOU DID! WHY I OUGHT-** a?" Takaharu started to quiet as he heard the sound of clicking.

He looked over at Omiko. Her hand was over her mouth, trying incredibly hard not to laugh her ass off at the soot covered Takaharu Fukuroda. In her hand-held outward toward him-was a small white and blue smartphone...that flashed as soon as he looked at her.

Takaharu grit his teeth, finally exploded-done with everything going on around him, and yelled. " **NO PICTURES, DAMMIT!"**

* * *

" _So getting back on topic...when exactly does No-Late Day end?"_

" _When the first period of school comes around."_

* * *

"Wait...when?" Ruby said, stopping in her tracks at the statement. The other two stopped with her as Omiko repeated what she said. "It ends when first period begins…"

Ruby paused. Her mind instantly went back to when she woke up-5:58AM. Looking over at Omiko, she asked a question. "Omiko...when does first period begin?"

She blinked, before answering straightly. "8:30AM, why?"

" _Do you have a watch on you?_ "

She blinked once more, before nodding and pulling out a small watch strapped around her wrist. She looked down on it...and instantly had a sour expression as she looked down at it.

Takaharu felt the air grow heavier around them, unnerving him as he felt it. He watched the two girls before him, as they both started bending forward, saying the exact same thing. "It-It-it-it's **-it's…** "

They bolted up. " **...IT'S 8:15!"**

Panic became a norm among them instantly. " **Why weren't you paying attention to the clock, I would've rushed myself much faster if you told me!?"**

" **That wasn't your fastest! Then what the hell have we been doing for the last two hours and twenty to fifteen minutes! Fooling about while we try to mess with each other!"**

" **MESS WITH EACH OTHER! YOU TWO WERE SCREWING AROUND WITH ME ALL DAY, YOU FUCKS!"**

" **YOU SHUT UP!"** Both girls yelled at him, prompting him to retreat. As he did, the two turned back to each other, their eyes alight with fury as Omiko began to yell. " **SO WHAT NOW, YOU GONNA JUST PICK US UP AND RUN US ALL OVER THE FINISH LINE AT BREAKNECK SPEEDS! HOPE WE GET TO THE FIRST CLASS IN TIME!"**

" **I DON'T KNOW, I'M STUCK HAVING TO MAKE A PLAN WITH ONLY FIFTEEN MINUTES ON THE CLOCK, I'M HIGHLY UNDER PRESSURE NOW!"**

" **THIRTEEN MINUTES!"**

" **WHATEVER!"**

The two turned away and stood several feet away from each other-Omiko blowing steam from her ears, while Ruby's eyes seemed to glow in anger. The two stood there for three more minutes, as Takaharu stood there like a stone-unknown whether to feel anger over his impending expulsion or elation that he wouldn't have to deal with these two anymore.

Deciding to suck it up and keep himself strong, he looked at the next obstacle before them...and instantly deflated. A large wall stood between them and the next part of the course. The only way past said wall was none other than…

"...A large slingshot...We're doomed."

Ruby-standing in silence-paused as she heard the words. A slingshot? She turned and looked up at the obstacle before them. Instantly her mind went back to her entrance exam at Beacon-the fight with the Nevermore, her bonding with her team and all that stuff. And amongst it all...was the plan she had made in all that chaos. A plan involving…

"A slingshot... **We're saved!** "

* * *

"Where's your classroom?" Ruby said, as Omiko and Takaharu struggled with pulling the slingshot. Omiko looked up, and with obvious strain in her voice, started to speak. "It's...It's the one...on the far left...as soon as you enter through...the gate!" She pulled even harder, the two of them nearing the very edge of the path.

Ruby looked up towards Honnoji, easily spotting the window of the classroom. Looking back, she ran up to the slingshot, and looked at the angle...not right. "A little to the right!"

The two, through brute strength-moved slightly to the right, with Ruby following the angle. It was only after a fair change that she could see it perfectly lined up with the class. "Right there! Good...keep holding it."

She walked away from it, before turning back to the two of them. Reaching back, she drew out Crescent Rose. "So the plan is we're going to use the slingshot to shoot ourselves up towards Honnoji! Just the moment before we launch, I want you to grab onto Crescent Rose and hold on for dear life, understand!"

"Do we look like we have a choice?"

Ruby nodded, and looked back at the school. She only had five minutes to do this!

She looked at the slingshot and ran towards it. As soon as she was close enough, she jumped and landed the end of her scythe into the slingshot. Just as Crescent Rose landed, the two students grabbed onto her scythe, and shouted "ready."

" **FIRE!"**

The two let go, and soon the three of them were sailing through the sky at g-forces that would most likely break a normal man in half. Omiko screamed her head off as the two flew-and started screaming even louder as Ruby began to fire off Crescent Rose for more velocity. Takaharu, for his part, was having the time of his life...even pulling out his phone to take pictures of Omiko's screaming face in the process.

" **DON'T TAKE PICTURES, YOU BALD LITTLE FUCKER!"**

" **CLASS HO!"**

The two looked up, to see the academy more than a few feet away now. Ruby looked down at the two of them and yelled to them. " **BRACE YOURSELVES!"**

The two of them gripped Crescent Rose even tighter, with Omiko crying even more hysterically, as they closed in rapidly on the classroom.

* * *

The classroom was, for it's part, as dead and quiet as it could be. All the students sat in their desks-bored, tired, or just glad they survived No-Late Day-as they waited for the first period to begin.

Little did they know of the one final surprise waiting for them that day.

The window exploded. Students were sent flying into the wall as Ruby Rose came flying in with Omiko Hakodate and Takaharu Fukuroda in tow behind her.

She slammed Crescent Rose into the floor as the two let go of her baby. Omiko rolled onto the floor, skidding to a stop just in front of the pile of students on the other wall beside them. Takaharu, unfortunately, was not so lucky, as he flew right into the massive pile of students at breakneck speeds. The group exploded outward, sending students and desks flying everywhere.

As Omiko took cover, her desk fell right next to her. Soon, all the desks fell back into the places they originally were before, with the students following suit afterward. As Omiko sat kneeling on the ground, she looked back: the class-which had been a hive of chaos a second before-looked just like it had always been...save for the broken window and Takaharu's mangled body huddling next to the wall…

She looked over at the doorway. Ruby had smashed through the window, and smashed Crescent Rose into the ground to halt her advance in the process. It stopped just in time to have her body lurch upward and toward the wall, which she used to step upward and perform a flip before landing on her feet-nary a scratch on her.

Ruby grabbed Crescent Rose and furled it back into it's carry form, sheathing it behind around her waist. "Right, now to get to class myself!"

With a quick glance, she waved at Hakodate before bolting down the hall with her manic speed. Hakodate, still registering what had just happened, could only wave back meekly as she took a seat at her desk.

It was a second after this small moment that the teacher walked in and greeted everyone. "Hello students, how's it going todaaaa **uHOLY SHIT! THE WINDOW!"** His head turned to the crumpled body of Takaharu, still lying near the wall where he was before. " **And Mr. Fukuroda!? What happened! Are you all right!"**

Takaharu, who had been motionless for most of the event, finally-with barely any strength left at all-raised his hand and spoke a single word.

" _Present...ugh…"_

* * *

 _One minute until it ends...where are they?_

Aikuro Mikisugi stared down at his clock intensely. Today was No-Late Day...and neither Ryuko Matoi nor Ruby Rose had showed up to class yet.

He looked up at the class. Mankanshoku wasn't present either...that meant either they were lost...or searching for Mankanshou herself.

 _This is bad...if neither show up-_

-His mind paused. He heard a sound in the distance that caught his attention and he looked out the window to see the steel cables of the school's luxury cable car moving rapidly on the system.

 _The cable car's only allow a certain speed, even on No-Late Day...so if it's running at that speed, then that means…_

He smiled, just as he heard skidding near his desk. He looked over to see Ruby Rose hunched over, breathing heavily. He opened his mouth to say something, before Ruby raised a finger, then stood up fully-her body almost entirely listless in it's stance.

"Ah, Miss Rose. You've arrived just a minute before class starts, please take a seat." He said to her. Ruby looked over at the class...and couldn't find a single sign of either Ryuko or Mako.

She looked back at Mikisugi. "Where's Ryuko and Mako?"

"Oh don't worry…" He lowered his sunglasses slightly, allowing Ruby to see his blue eyes underneath. "They'll be here real soon."

Ruby looked at him...before sighing and walking over to her desk. Where were those two, they were going to be late?!

 _Come on, Ryuko! Mako!_

...Little did Ruby know that, like Omiko and Takaharu's class, she was in for a very special surprise.

As she sat down, Aikuro pulled out a book and began rollcall. After a few names, he called the words she dreaded to hear that day. "Let's see, next up is...Matoi. Ryuko Matoi."

 _Oh no! RYUKO!_

As her mind began to panic, though, she also started hearing a sound in the distance that got louder and louder the closer it got…

...Then _that_ happened…

In an instant, a cable car smashed into the windowed wall of the classroom. Sending all-save for Mikisugi and Ruby herself-flying straight into the opposite wall before landing into a small pile of bodies and desks.

Ruby stared wide eyed at the sight, before looking at the cable car as it's door opened-revealing Ryuko Matoi with Mako Mankanshoku under her arms.

Ruby watched in astonishment, while Ryuko walked over-silently watched by Mikisugi-picked up two desks, and sat them down right next to her: sitting Mako in the one farthest from her before sitting in her own desk.

Ryuko looked at Ruby, her face still frozen in shock. "What?"

Aikuro, feeling relief inside, started to speak again. "Haaa...Ryuko Matoi?"

Ryuko sighed, before raising her hand and saying a single word.

" _Present."_

* * *

 _ **Fin.**_

* * *

Title Reference: Explosivo!-Tenacious D.

 _ **It's Alive...IT'S ALIVE! AHHAHAHAHAHA!**_

*cough* **Excuse me...it's been awhile.**

 **But anyway, Hello ladies and gentlemen! I'M BACK WITH A NEW CHAPTER! FINALLY! It's been far too long (I think around two to four months in fact) and let me tell you...** I am not exactly a hundred percent sure on this chapter.

 **So first, let me give you an explanation on this one. Chapter five was pretty much based off of the events of episode three of Kill la Kill: Junketsu, which was a pretty action heavy episode (hint: it has Satsuki fight Ryuko) and so upon writing it, I wrote it with the strict intention to have an awesome fight between Satsuki and our two heroines.**

 **Now...considering how much you guys seemed to love the first four chapters before that (which also had a large amount of action with say** _ **maybe**_ **one exception) I was pretty confident in writing a chapter based off of so much action-especially considering it's thirty-nine pages in Google Drive. So I wrote that one out, posted it to Fanfiction, and-looking from the few reviews of Chapter five-you ABSOLUTELY loved it…**

 **So, with that in mind I had a dilemma. The next episode in Kill la Kill was episode four, and if you've seen KLK then you know right away that the episode is full on comedy from beginning to end! And you've probably heard me say it once before, but I'll just reiterate for those that haven't...I AM NOT CONFIDENT IN WRITING COMEDY OF THIS SCALE!**

 **So I ran into several problems as a result. I was extremely nervous with how to do this chapter, I thought the writing was rather weak this time around (and I'm still not entirely sure about it all), and nothing just seemed to click with me. I ended up scrapping the original draft/chapter idea and decided to just rewrite it, started it up, and got off to a slow start with it before coming back here in June of all months…**

 **...In layman's terms, it's like coffee. I came to work all hopped up and ready for anything, then three to five hours later I crash, and I'm sitting in my chair sleeping my ass off while my mind's screaming at me to get shit done.**

 **Due to this, my mind felt right to make a decision-do I try and finish this chapter, or do I just scrap it entirely and move on to episode five, which I'm sure would fit me a lot better than the last. In the end, I decided against scrapping it, and finally got around to getting the chapter done in full and (hopefully) in a form that you, the reader, will enjoy.**

 **As such, this chapter is coming out DREADFULLY late by three months. And as a result, I am INCREDIBLY SORRY! I'M NOT CONFIDENT, I'M JUST A HUMBLE FAN-FIC WRITER WHO WANTS TO WRITE STORIES HE LIKES, NOTHING MORE!**

 **But now...it is here...for your reading pleasure. And by the gods! I hope it's good, I really hope it is.**

 **So here we are, the first EXTRA chapter (I decided to rename them EXTRA's instead of omakes) following the events of episode four.**

 **This one I'm just gonna want input from you guys. I'm just gonna watch how this one does for now and see how it goes about then. For now, I'm just gonna give input on what went into this chapter.**

 **First: TAKAHARU FUKURODA AND OMIKO HAKODATE! Yes, I made them the side characters for this chapter. I found the series to do this frequently: introduce a new antagonist in the first half as soon as possible, then toss them aside until the second part comes along. I could understand it for a certain red-mohawk character of sorts (who will be introduced in the next chapter), especially as he becomes more prominent later in the series. But Takaharu and Hakodate just disappear entirely off the map once they are introduced. Two antagonists, who end up having some semblance of characterization-especially in comparison to a large amount of the other club leaders-and the best you'll see of them afterward is around the final battle of the series...COME ON TRIGGER.**

 **So, I added them in as the additional side characters for this chapter. They probably won't appear often in the** _ **main**_ **storyline, but any future extras I'll do will most likely have them inserted in somewhere…**

 **Next up: THE SEVERE LACK OF RYUKO AND MAKO! This is...more or less made up by the decision to scrap the first draft of the chapter, which** _ **would've**_ **included Ryuko, Mako, Maiko, Takaharu, and Hakodate. But this also indicated another problem: it was a fucking pain to see where I could include Ruby properly in all of this, much less Fukuroda and Omiko! Add in to the fact that the chapter wasn't connecting with me at all, and I pretty much gave up with the idea.**

 **I started fresh, and decided to write a scenario that goes in line with Episode four's events, but simply follows Ruby's struggles to get to school on time instead (with Takaharu and Hakodate in tow). And while I'm not entirely confident about the chapter, I can safely say that this idea gave me some relief.**

 **Third: THE OBSTACLES. The first one (tiger cage) is easy enough to describe, and is actually in the episode (specifically when Gamagoori shows us just what the obstacle course entails, there's a cage with a white cat-like creature surrounded by bones in the scene), so I thought...yeah, I'll do that.**

 **The karaoke idea...well, I thought why not give Takaharu some depth beyond FUCKING SCREAMING! So I made him good at singing, and gave him a certain taste in music and movies (which is up for you to decide if it's good or not). The minefield was already in the show too, and again, I was going for some minor characterization with the other two, hence it's use. As for whether it's good...well…**

 **...And finally: THE CHAPTER TITLE: I've said it before that there would be chapters that were significantly different from the rest, or that there would be Chapter titles more fitting but don't belong to the 70's or 80's METAL kind of cloth. This is one of those exceptions...and since it's a comedy chapter, why not base the name off a song from none other than TENACIOUS D! So yeah, there's the first exception to the chapter title...**

 **...And many other things. I'm not confident in them all, and I fully admit that. It's more or less the input from everyone else I'd like more than anything else. That will be FAR better than simply pushing out this chapter and saying "It's better than nothing." (isn't that right, Inafune...or whoever it was that said that from Capcom, i don't know).**

 **So with that in mind, I'm sorry once again for the long wait on this specific chapter, I really am!**

 **Now, to move on from the chapter for a while. Let me say that I hate May now (I'm betting you were expecting me to say Mei there, BUT NO!). So, around the beginning of May, the open beta for Overwatch came out, and let me say that it hooked me like a Roadhog on Prom Night (yes, I'm making that joke). I instantly preordered it literally a day after playing, and haven't stopped playing it since. It's a really good game, and I'm enjoying the hell out of it (along with getting a few ideas every once in awhile).**

 **In addition to Overwatch came out a game by the name of Stellaris (made by the same guys behind Crusader Kings and Europa Universalis), and I can say that I enjoyed that one...which also helps since I look at EU like it's the entirety of a foreign language.**

 **To ADD TO THAT, Total War: Warhammer came out as well, and I...haven't really played it much really. Which is sad, because it's a rather good game.**

 **But of course this all continued into June with E3 2016! So to give you my impression of it all…**

 **EA:** **DULL. AS. FUCK! My god, EA! I'm happy for Battlefield 1 and all (especially with the hour long play session afterward) but GOOD GOD MAN! They focused waaaay too much on sports, and didn't even focus on what we really wanted-GOOD GAMES! Seriously EA, GET OFF THE FUCKING SPORTS GAMES, OR AT LEAST SEPARATE THEM INTO THEIR OWN CONFERENCE FOR FUCK'S SAKE. GOD, EA WAS AWFUL!**

 **Bethesda:** **NEW QUAKE! NEW PREY (even though I haven't played the first one), My GOD! Let me say that I like how Bethesda does their conferences-showing us the new stuff first, giving us some updates on other games in the middle, then focusing on the one major project for this year (Dishonored 2). I like how they set it up. If this is how Bethesda does it's conferences (I think it did the same last year) then I'm completely fine with it-completely.**

 **Ubisoft:** **It was alright...even though I know that 90% of it is gonna be terrible or the same as always. In my eyes, For Honor is the game I'm looking forward to the most, that's definitely one I want to try out…**

 **...Also, South Park-best prank of E3 2016, Best prank!**

 **PC Gaming:** **GAMES, GAMES, GAMES, GAMES, MORE GAMES, GAMES, GAMES, GAMES, GAMES, an occasional piece of PC hardware, GAMES, GAMES, GAMES, GAMES, more hardware, GAMES, AND A HOST SITTING AT A DESK LOOKING LIKE HE'S ABOUT READY TO GIVE US THE MORNING NEWS, THUMBS UP, GOOD SHOWING PC Gaming!**

 **Microsoft:** ***crickets chirping in the background* I'm a Playstation fanboy, so...yeah…**

 **...State of Decay 2 looks nice.**

 **Sony:** **E3 OF DREAMS 2! E3 OF DREAMS 2! NORSE MYTHOLOGY GOD OF WAR (WITH DRAGONS...and son), A P.T. LIKE RESIDENT EVIL 7 (WITH A PLAYABLE DEMO!), CRASH IS COMING BACK, DAY'S GONE (looks alright) KOJIMA (FUCKONAMI), DEEAAATTHHH STTTRRRRANNNDDDIIIINNNNGGGG (FUCKONAMI, FUCKONAMI, FUCKONAMI, FUCKONAMI, FUCKONAMIIIIIIIIII-)**

*CrazeStasis_exe. Has failed to respond. Rebooting.*

 **W-WHERE AM I!, Oh. I'm back, good. So yeah, E3 was good...it was** _ **very**_ **good.**

 **Other than that. Yeah, I bought Pillars of Eternity. It's a good game, can't wait to play more. Saw the Warcraft movie-fuck the critics on this one, I liked it better than BVS: DoJ. And yeah...I'm also back to doing a Math class, and let me say that I hope it goes better than last time.**

 **So here we are, the end of my discussion. With this, I'd like to remind you-REVIEW! And if you decide to, favorite or follow if you want. I appreciate any feedback, even the most critical kind.**

 **Now, where's that chapter title...wait, that's right-it was on the last chapter…**

 **Chapter 6: Searching, Seek and Destroy!**

 **For Fun, Fedoras, and Insanity...peace.  
-CrazeStasis**


	7. Chapter 6: Seek and Destroy

**NOTE: I do not own either RWBY or Kill la Kill. RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth, and Kill la Kill belongs to studio TRIGGER…**

* * *

It was a bright day at Honnoji Academy today.

The sky-crowded up by the occasional cloud here and there-had a nice hue of blue to it today. The moon, barely visible, sat up in the sky, sharing its space with the sun as the two made their way throughout the day.

It almost seemed to be a rarity this year. To have nice days like this once in awhile...he was sure his sister would love to have a relaxing stroll across the countryside, or the beach, or anywhere under this nice blue sky...

...That was a long time ago. Now, it only provided him with two comforts: memories...and visibility.

He walked to the edge of the academy wall-the oppressive tower fully visible in front of him-and stopped at the edge, the courtyard fully viewed from up on high.

Tsumugu Kinagase removed his sunglasses, his steely grey-blue eyes looking upon the place with a mix of stoicism and tranquil contempt, before he crouched to his knees and opened the case he carried with him. He opened it, revealing a gun that looked like a sewing machine. Yet, as he himself had learned to figure out long ago, if you fired it, it operated much like an Uzi. Inside with it were several modifications for the gun...his preferenced one at the moment being the sniper rifle mod.

He set about his business quickly, pulling back the tab of his gun, connecting it in with the mod, adjusting the scope. With his preparation complete, he lined up the sniper rifle and put his eye to the scope.

Honnoji's tower was silent-it's all powerful overlord Satsuki Kiryuin nowhere to be seen. He shifted to the gate, equally as dead. No students in the slightest walking under the star-shaped arch that made what was essentially the front door of Honnoji…

 _...Where are you…_

He shifted his attention to the school windows...and found exactly what he was looking for.

It was subtle, but enough. A small flash of red that his eye barely managed to catch. He readjusted his scope, zooming in on the one particular classroom.

 _Bingo._

She yawned, clearly bored with the class that she was in. A girl with a mop of black hair and a distinct red highlight with it. On her was a black and red uniform that looked _nothing_ like the other uniforms on her.

 _...I've found you, Ryuko...Matoi?_

He paused for a minute, as his eyes shifted to another source of red in the classroom-more pronounced and vivid from Ryuko's. The girl sat down in an outfit that was even more contrastive with a school uniform. In fact, it wasn't a uniform in the slightest, but something much more different. The girl had on a red cloak, which could completely cover her dark red-tipped hair and somewhat pale skin-tone if she had it up.

Tsumugu was somewhat surprised-he had never been told about this mystery girl before, making this the first time he had seen her. He ended up becoming even more surprised when, most likely out of boredom, she looked out the window...and seemed to take notice of him as soon as she looked in this direction.

The thought of someone spotting him from that distance didn't come to his mind. And to make sure that the girl was in fact looking at him, he pulled his hand away from his gun and raised two of his fingers in a V-sign.

The girl-her silver eyes enough to captivate someone in their reflection-blinked, before she whispered a single word from under her breath. It was clearly impossible to hear from this distance, but Tsumugu could read her lips from this far enough anyway to understand exactly what she said…

" _Peace?"_

He grimaced. A girl could see him from this distance, despite all of the setup he went through to make sure that he _wouldn't_ be found, he had still been compromised.

The decision went through his mind like a jolt of electricity: Either he take out the girl along with his intended target-not killing her, but certainly knocking her out-or he spare her, kill his target, and risk getting ID'd by her. Which one should he choose? Neither seemed particularly appealing to him, and both would definitely have an impact on his operations…

...The decision was a hard one. But-as he soon realized with the sound of footsteps a fair distance behind him-he quickly found out that the world seemed to have made the choice for him.

 _Dammit._

His nostrils flared as he closed his eyes and stood up from his position-the rifle still in his hand. Without having to turn around, he addressed the Two-Star student flanked by One-Stars behind him. "What do you want?"

He heard a small cackle. "I see that you've been looking after our flowers! So we thought we would offer a little thank-you."

 _Oh...the flower-bed...of course._ Tsumugu thought to himself as he pulled out a cigarette-remembering he had walked through the flowers behind him while on the hunt. He let out an inaudible growl as he pulled out a lighter and set the tip of his cigarette aflame.

"HEY, This is a non-smoking area!"

 _Oh, so it's also a non-smoking area...well that just made my day._ He sighed, exhaling smoke. "People who rely on Life-Fibers aren't entitled to complain."

"H-How do you know about those!?" He detected a hint of shock in his voice. Tsumugu let off a small smirk before turning around, the cigarette held out from his hand…

"...I don't need to answer that, either." Tsumugu said, flicking away the butt of his cigarette right into the flowers behind him.

The leader of the student-a boy with distinct glasses, a two star uniform that didn't look much different from the others save for what seemed like pails for hands and a large pack on his back-flinched upward, his face contorting with rage. "H-H-He threw a cig-cigarette butt into the sacre- **sacred flower bed!** "

Within seconds, the One-Star students flanking the boy pulled out their pails, swinging them over the pack of the Two-Star and pouring water into what he saw was soil packed into the top.

" **You'll pay for that!"** The Two-Star yelled. Just a second after, a large plant started growing out of proportion from the pack, before large, toothy maws grew out and started shooting right for him. With this, the Two-Star smiled. " **Gardening-spec, Green Thumb -enhancing Two-Star Goku uniform! That shall be the uniform that buries you!"**

Tsumugu leaped up on top of the plants as they smashed into the wall under him, before finding a foothold and running on top of the plants themselves. Then, he leaped off-disengaging the sniper rifle mods from his gun. Dodging a few more plant limbs, he landed on one and opened fire on the crowd below him.

The One-Stars all fell instantly-the barrage of sewing needles from the gun too much for the weakest of Goku Uniforms. The Two-Star, on the other hand, sneered even as several needles found their way into his uniform. "Fool! A mere gun is useless against a Goku Uniform!"

A larger mouth burst out of the ground, it's shadow far eclipsing Tsumugu's. Regardless, without a single shred of fear, he aimed and fired at the massive plant...even as it seemed to shrug off everything that hit it and lunged at him…

...The beast smashed into the small piece of debris that he used as a foothold...and Tsumugu seemed to disappear. Kusanosuke Yaguruma smiled and started laughing haughtiy...until his plant started to wilt and finally die, his face turning to shock.

It was at this moment that he realized that he himself had grown weak. He looked over himself as he fell to his knees, spotting the various needles and realizing exactly what they were for…

"Impossible! The needles...drain my uniforms power…" He said, not realizing Tsumugu walking up to him before it was too late.

Tsumugu stood over him and pointed his gun at the student. "...Let me tell you two useful pieces of information…"

"One: I smoke wherever I want, whenever the hell I want…"

"Please spare me-" the student failed to finish his sentence, as the sewing gun was pressed ever closer to his face.

"Two: I hate... **being interrupted!** "

The student could only watch as Tsumugu's finger pressed harder and harder on the trigger before the inevitable…

* * *

"Are you sure, Inumuta?"

Satsuki Kiryuin sat in her chair, the Student Council Chambers lit by the massive screen she watched with a scowl on her face.

On the screen were several pictures and clips of a small green crystal-the "Dust" that Sanageyama had picked up after Matoi had defeated Takaharu. The crystal was shot from multiple angles, and a few videos showed the crystal being chipped...with the result either being it fading into literal dust or having a small, volatile reaction. To the side of this all, a small stream showing a stoic Inumuta blanketed a good half of the screen.

Inumuta nodded as he responded. "Yes, Lady Satsuki. Despite extensive research on the Dust crystal found by Sanageyama, we have only found little in what it actually is…" He sighed, clearly intrigued yet slightly frustrated at the same time. "...As you can see in the video, the crystal being chipped only resulted in two things: the shard falling apart, or exploding-not fatally so, but explosive nonetheless. Similarly, we once tried simply cutting the crystal in half…"

"And?"

"...It's results were...poor, if I say so myself." He quickly flashed a quick picture of a One-Star student with second-degree burns before continuing. "In general, the volatile nature of the crystal makes experiments on it rather tricky to perform."

 _...I see, so it is more serviceable to have an expert handle the usage of such a mysterious power...exactly like what she was telling us the day she showed everyone this "Dust."_ Satsuki sighed mentally as she looked back on the screen. "Understood, Inumuta. Any thoughts on this Dust?"

Underneath the high neck of his uniform, she could tell that he was smirking. He pressed several buttons on his side as even more pictures and videos replaced the previous ones. "Going on account of its reactivity, I would say that this Dust is something akin to a "resource" of sorts for Miss Rose-perhaps a sort of alternating substance for her weapon's ammunition or as a way of allowing her to move at speeds faster than most vehicles. It is nothing more than a guess, but I would put it into consideration, m'lady."

He pulled up one video-the particular incident where she introduced Dust to them all-and widened the video for more clarity. "In another note. I will likely hypothesize that this Dust is both malleable through _some_ procedure, and that there are multiple kinds of this resource, considering the canister and the different colored crystals she showed that one day. What each source does, of course, we'd have to discover through more observation…"

The tone at the end of his sentence indicated to Satsuki all the information she would get at the moment, and she nodded. "Thank you, Inumuta…"

"You're welcome...It looks like you have a guest, M'lady." Inumuta said, no doubt looking at the figure standing in the room behind her. She nodded again. "Yes, Inumuta, you are dismissed for now…"

Inumuta saluted, before cutting out his feed. With the conversation done, she turned her seat around-more pressing matters at hand for discussion at the moment.

She opened her eyes and looked at the Baseball Club Captain standing a few feet away from her, his hands leisurely in his pockets as he looked up with a smirk on his face. He had short blonde hair stuck under a Honnoji Baseball cap, and hazel eyes that looked up at her with a jovial, yet ominous mirth to them. The Honnoji Baseball League uniform-or better known as the Baseball-spec, Home Run-enhancing Two-Star Goku Uniform-went up from his neck to his shoes-his name printed in bold lettering on his back above the number thirteen.

She heard a small exhale under his breath before he spoke. "Does he _always_ make it an effort to sound like a soulless, analytical super-spy?"

"I would watch your tongue. Inumuta is a part of the Elite Four, far above your level…"

The Captain held out his hand in surrender. "Please, Please. I was simply trying to lighten the mood in this rather dark room, nothing more." He pulled his hand out from his pocket, and dropped to the ground with one knee propped up, bowing in her direction. "Baseball Club Captain Kazuya Ichiro at your service, Lady Satsuki."

She looked down at him. Kazuya Ichiro-or fast strike Ichiro, as many students nicknamed him-was a Two-Star student. He was known for his impressive skills with a baseball bat, and his jovial nature towards his own club and other students...something that unnerved many others, considering the behavior of the other Two-Star Captains. She didn't mind as he paid respects to her, and never fell out of line with the Elite Four.

She stared, before starting. "Ichiro, I have a task for you. You know of the past events in the previous days, do you not?"

"The ones involving a certain Ryuko Matoi and Ruby Rose, m'lady?"

"Exactly…" She stood up from her chair, bringing Bakuzan to rest in front of her. "...I have called you here for one express purpose. Are you capable enough to handle it?"

His eyes lit up, and he smiled. "More than capable, m'lady…"

* * *

Kazuya exited the Student Council chamber, the information given to him still going through his mind as he made his way back to class.

 _It seems I will have to make a plan for this particular occasion...perhaps...no, that would be far too risky. Maybe if I-_

The distinct sound of a crashing sound guided his eyes to the window, to the wall below, and the sight that was unfolding below…

...It was a few seconds afterward that the sirens started to sound off…

* * *

 _...mmmhm-damn sirens._ Ryuko thought as she was stirred awake by the sound of the period ending, her sleep-riddled eyes adjusting as she quickly wiped drool off with her wrist.

 _It's almost lunchtime, isn't it?_ Ryuko looked over to Ruby's desk...only to see that she wasn't there, but that a note was left behind.

Ryuko blinked, before she got up-moving through the small throng of students-and looking closely at the note.

" _Meet with me at lunchtime."_

" _-Ruby."_

"Lunchtime, huh?" Ryuko said, wondering what exactly she wanted to discuss with her. Ryuko pocketed the note, before turning to the other desk beside hers. "Alright, Mako. Let's...go?"

Ryuko looked at the empty desk, as she realized that Mako was no longer there. Meaning that she either disappeared on her, went to the bathroom...or got captured by a school club.

"Dammit."

* * *

On the wall, Tsumugu peered at the Life-Fiber banshi he had in a small container, before pocketing it and turning back to the school, his target making her way out from the classroom. Without a moment's hesitation, he gathered up whatever he had missing, and disappeared into whatever this academy had for a hiding spot. It looked like he would have to catch his target later for now…

Looking out from the window, Ichiro watched the figure disappear and smiled to himself, as an idea started to formulate itself in his head.

 _Looks like I'll have a plan for you after all...Miss Rose._

* * *

 **Crimson Incandescence**

 **Chapter 6: Seek and Destroy.**

* * *

 _Lunchtime...is he anywhere nearby?_

Ruby Rose looked up towards the edge of the walls, before moving on to the rest of the school around her. She wasn't looking for Ryuko, nor was she looking for Mako. No, she was looking out for the man with a red mohawk,

She saw him earlier, when she looked out the window. She didn't know why, but she a strange sensation of being watched, and the sight of a man on top of the wall about a mile away, with a sniper rifle pointing directly at her, seemed to confirm her suspicions…

...At least, she thought he was watching her. She did remember seeing him flash a peace sign at her...that, and he didn't seem to open fire on her. It seemed like he was just...watching her.

 _But what reason would he have to be watching me?_

There could've been multiple reasons. Perhaps he was another one under the thumb of Satsuki Kiryuin-or maybe the Kiryuins entirely. Maybe he knew about her being from another world, and is watching to make sure she doesn't cause a large ruckus.

Of course, it could also be possible that he isn't after her...it could've been possible he was also watching Ryuko.

She couldn't find it _too_ much of a far-out idea. As while she knew little about Ryuko's past, she had figured out from various discussions at home that she was known as the "Kanto Vagabond" and the "Guitar Case Drifter." It could be entirely possible that she built up a large amount of enemies or interested parties during that time. The question's that comes out of this is: Who exactly is he, and who does he work for…

...Actually, the real question was: Where's Ryuko and Mako? She kinda expected them to show up by now-

" **Don't delude yourselves into thinking that you can beat me with tools you'd use on carp and frogs!"**

-Oh, that's where.

Ruby looked upwards at the main building as it promptly exploded outward. Several desks, biology tools, and One-Star students (that looked like normal students on half their body, and muscle made of Life-Fiber on the other) following the dust as it all fell toward the ground. Emerging out of the cloud, Mako started falling, smiling and laughing as she was inching closer to the ground. Following afterward was Ryuko Matoi, falling with her scissor blade in Decapitation mode.

* * *

 **{Finishing Move: Seni-Soshitsu!}**

* * *

The Kamui clad (or would it be more appropriate to say a lack thereof) girl landed among the rubble blade first, standing on top of it before setting her feet on the ground.

Once again, a small red thread floated in the air before darting toward Ryuko and absorbing itself into the outfit before the transformation finally stopped, and Senketsu turned back into a normal sailor fuku uniform.

Ruby smiled, before she remembered Mako, got up from her perch, and quickly darted upward-catching Mako without a problem and landing on her feet in the process. Mako looked at her and grinned. "Hello, Ruby!"

"Good Morning, Mako." Ruby turned back to Ryuko, who was walking over with her scissor blade in her hand, and the other rubbing the back of her head.

"I guess that wraps it up-GUGH!"

Ruby watched as Mako launched herself at Ryuko, hugging her around the neck and thanking her. Unfortunately, she flew too fast, and spun around Ryuko one time before her velocity sent her in the opposite direction of where Ryuko was walking-causing the two to fall on the ground.

She paused, then giggled, walked over and offered a hand. "Are you alright Ryuko, Senketsu."

"Fine-never better"

{I'm alright...it's not like Mako would injure me even if she tried.}

* * *

The three sat on a large chain, as Ryuko raised her scissor blade and, without a single problem, started to shrink the blade down until the blade could only be gripped with nothing more than a finger. Mako cooed at the sight, and Ruby let out a small "Cool" as she watched-both reactions earning a grin from Ryuko.

"You can change the size of your scissor now, Ryuko!"

"Pretty much, it's no big deal now-not having to lug around that big guitar case."

Ruby smiled...until a thought entered her head. "Ryuko, when did you figure out how to do that?"

Ryuko blinked before looking at her. "Just last night. Why?"

"How much training have you had with the blade?"

"Umm...professionally, or on the road?"

Ruby looked at her. Apparently there was no difference to her. "...None. I've often had to learn from either past experience or as I go along." Ryuko said, once again scratching the back of her head. At this, Ruby sighed, her head hanging low as she registered her words.

"Which means if you had been trained you would've learned how to do that sooner wouldn't you…"

"D-Don't blame me. The only one who could've trained me was killed when I found it." Ryuko said, a tinge of sadness to her voice.

"Ryuko. You're scissor blade is a sword. You could be observing the Kendo Club or Sanageyama and still learn something…" Ruby said, earning her a small glare from Ryuko, who puffed her cheeks up.

"W-Well then how did you learn how to use _your_ weapon!? That obviously needs training to properly use." She pointed out.

Ruby blinked, then smiled as she pulled out her weapon and unfurled it into it's full weapon form. "Crescent Rose? Yep, my uncle Qrow taught me how to use it. I would've been garbage before he showed me how to...wield...it." She heard the sound of muffled giggling beside her and looked at Ryuko. She was huddled away, clutching at a surprisingly engaged Mako's shoulder as she held in barely contained laughter. Ruby frowned. "...What's so funny?"

"Uncle...hmh...Crow? That is such a-ha-a cliched name to use?" She tried to hold back another wave of laughter as Ruby stared daggers at her.

"It's not cliche, that is his legitimate name!"

"It is sooo cliche...haha…"

Ruby's own cheeks puffed up as she looked away from the two. As Ryuko continued giggling, Senketsu sighed, before looking up at the one wearing him. {Getting back onto topic here, Ryuko. I should let you know that your blood has been salty lately.}

Ryuko stopped laughing and looked down at her uniform, it's single eye focused on her. {Don't you think you're getting a little cocky lately?}

"You have been rather confident more lately…" Ruby added in as Ryuko started to frown.

"You can tell that from how my blood tastes?"  
Senketsu continued to stare. {I can tell any difference or change to your physiology immediately. Starting from your weight and height to your BMI}

As soon as Senketsu stated this, Ryuko's face flushed red, while Ruby-though also somewhat flushed-started smirking. Ryuko whipped her head around, looking at both Ruby and Senketsu, before looking down at the uniform. " **B-B-Butt out of private stuff like that!"**

{You've been eating too many of those croquettes, Ryuko.}

"No, that's called butting in where you're not wanted!"

"Yeah, Senketsu, those are secrets that a girl herself should know." Ruby said, before bending her head close to the uniform and whispering. " _Which I have no problem hearing about, tell me more!"_

" **DON'T ENCOURAGE HIM!"** She yelled at Ruby (who could only respond with her smirk growing wider) before looking down at Senketsu. "I don't have time to waste on chumps like these guys!"

{Calm down. Impatience is bad for you. As is greasy food.}

" **Give it a rest already! And wipe that smug look off your face-both of you!"** She said, pointing to both Senketsu and Ruby-who seemed close to break out in laughter. Senketsu, on the other hand, only gave out a curt retort.

{I'm incapable of having a smug look on my face. Because I don't have one.}

" **QUIT NITPICKING EVERY LITTLE THING I SAY!"**

" _No, keep nitpicking! This is a riot!"_

" **YOU QUIT IT! AND DIDN'T YOU WANT TO SEE ME AFTER SCHOOL!"** Ruby paused, remembering what had happened earlier. Before she could respond though, Mako-who was watching the entire scene unfold intently-spoke up before her.

"Wow, you're amazing Ryuko! You're doing a comedy duo act all by yourself!."

Ryuko paused, as she had to remember for a moment-only her and Ruby could hear Senketsu for some reason, while Mako-or anyone else for that matter-couldn't hear him. She looked over at Mako, who was simply smiling as she reached into her bag for a bento box. "Oh, you were talking to Senketsu, weren't you? Sorry, sorry!"

Mako continued to talk in her own little world as Ruby and Ryuko both watched with somewhat wide eyes. While she did that, Ryuko glanced back to the girl right next to her. " _Why did you ask to meet, don't we do that every lunchtime."_

Ruby blinked, before her brow furrowed and she looked around-as if to make sure no one was watching. After seemingly registering that there was no one around, she edged closer and whispered into her ear.

" _Earlier today on the far wall. Do you see it?"_

Ryuko looked around and spotted a wall in the distance-the repair team working quickly to fix it. " _You mean that wall over there?"_

" _Yes. There was a man watching our classroom with a sniper rifle-red mohawk and darker skin tone. You should keep watch in case he's targeting one of us."_

Ryuko paused for a moment. _A red mohawk? Interesting._ She nodded and said thanks, before Ruby sighed. "Right, now that I got that business out of the way... **I have to go use the bathroom!** " Ruby said, jogging in place as she got ready to bolt to the nearest bathroom.

Ryuko blinked, before yelling out to her to wait. But it was too late, and Ruby's form disappeared in a fast, red blur flanked by rose petals. Sighing in frustration, Ryuko looked off in the distance-the sound of Mako's constant talking the only thing she heard.

As she sat there, Ryuko became lost in thought. _A guy with a sniper rifle and a red mohawk for a hair style. He was watching our classroom, and from what I can gather with the broken wall in the distance._ She eyed the top of the wall with the repair crew. _It could be he was either beaten to within an inch of his life by a Two-Star. Or he has some means of combating Two-Stars...either way, I should be on edge...probably get out of the open as well…_

Ryuko breathed in as she started to turn to Mako. "Alright Mako, Why don't we move our usual lunch spot for the...day?"

It took Ryuko a moment to register what had happened. Mako was flying backwards-her lunch flying out from the bento. In the center of her forehead was a large sewing needle. As Ryuko's eyes went wide with shock, more needles flew from out of nowhere, riddling Mako with them as she slowly fell backwards over the chain.

" **Mako!"** She dived behind the chain-using it as cover from wherever the needles were fired from-as she crawled over to her friend. " **Hey Mako! Are you alright, say something!"**

"I Got her out of our hair for a while." Ryuko flinched backward, looking through the massive chain to spot a man walking toward them-a red mohawk for hair.

"She is unharmed. Thanks to the effects of those needles, when she wakes up, any fatigue-any sickness-will be gone. And She'll wake full of vim and vigor...your uniform, however, will have no mercy from me."

 _He's after Senketsu!_ Without a moment's hesitation, Ryuko picked up Mako and ran farther back towards another wall. Sitting her friend down, she checked over her.

 _Covered in food...frozen stiff...but there's nothing else wrong...heartbeat?_ She pressed her head against Mako's chest. A faint beating could be heard from inside. _Still has a heartbeat. So this mohawk guy's telling the truth. Gotta find Ruby before this get's bad._

 **{Ryuko!}**

She turned quickly, spotting the mohawk standing on the massive chain. Without a second thought, Ryuko quickly darted across the open space-pulling out her scissor blade in the process. She seemed to be doing well, dodging the needles that came her way, and almost seemed close to getting out of harm's way…

...Then she felt something catch her wrist, and she lurched to her side, falling on her back. Looking to her left, she saw her hand stuck in some...clamp? Whatever the hell it was! She released her scissor blade and started pulling on the clamp, managing to budge it free in a second...only for another clamp to slam said wrist back to the ground.

 _OH COME ON!_ She started reaching for her scissor blade once again, before mohawk's boot came down on her other arm, trapping her completely. Yelping in pain, she looked up to see a...sewing gun in her face?

"W-What the hell. Are you a lackey of Satsuki!?"

"-Take off your clothes."

" **Wh-WHAT!?"** Ryuko yelled, her anger flaring up at the question. " **NO, I'M NOT GONNA TAKE MY CLOTHES OFF, YOU PERVERT! THIS IS THE ONLY THING I'M WEARING TODAY! AND IF YOU THINK I'M GONNA TAKE THIS OFF FOR A PERVERT LIKE YOU-"**

"Let me tell you two useful pieces of information." He said, silencing her instantly. "One: I'm not a pervert." He pointed to the clamp around her wrist. "Two: You are unable to transform in front of me."

 _Shit._ She looked over at her Seki Tekko clamped to the ground and growled. The Mohawk simply stared daggers at her as he held her down with the sewing gun to her. "If I fire at this range, you'll die. Take off your clothes."

For a minute, Ryuko said nothing, before she grit her teeth. " **Just try it, you bastard."**

"You'll leave me no choice, then." He grimaced, his finger slowly tightening around the trigger…

...Until a needle smacked itself into his hand. He growled as he pulled his gun back and looked-spying the piece of paper wrapped around it. With reluctance, he released his foot from Ryuko's hand and started walking away.

Ryuko reached over for the clamp instantly, pulling it out and looking over at the mohawk as he walked away. Before he left, he stopped in his step, and his head turned to eye her. "I'll be back...to strip you tomorrow."

He continued walking away, only hearing from Ryuko a loud yell. " **We'll see about that you perverted fucker!"**

Ryuko sat there for a minute, processing what had just happened. She had been attacked by the mohawk guy-who was after Senketsu-and was utterly helpless to do anything about it. She grit her teeth as her hands tightened into fists.

 _Dammit!_

She sat bitterly, her mind going to thoughts of the incident-her father's death, and what led her here. She continued to think about all of the events that had happened in the past few months…

...When a large chunk of concrete slammed into the ground right in front of her. She jumped back as the debris shattered at her feet, startling her. Her eyes wide, she looked up at the building above-spotting the massive hole in the wall.

As she started to register just what was happening, a projectile flew right into the side of the hole, blowing it open even further. As more debris fell to the ground, Ryuko yelled out to the hallway above.

" **Ruby!"**

* * *

 _Rinse, rinse, wash away. Come again, another day!_

Ruby repeated the verse in her head as she finished washing her hands, before pulling out some paper to dry them. As soon as she was finished, she tossed the paper into the bin and made her way for the door.

"ahh...Always good to relieve yourself." She said with a smile on her face as she exited the girls bathroom. Stretching her arms she looked outside, seeing the sun shining over the wall as the next period started to close in. "I should head back to Ryuko and Mako…"

She started to walk down the hall, before a two One-Stars ran past with a stretcher, demanding everyone move. As Ruby stepped out of the way of the medical crew, she saw it.

A Two-Star-about as short as Fukuroda-with sunglasses, freckles, and buckteeth. He laid on the stretcher, groaning in pain every time they moved.

Ruby's interest wasn't exactly as piqued as many others, and she started to walk away...until she heard the Two-Star yell-bolting off the stretcher in the process. " **Those who wield Life-Fibers aren't entitled to judge! Those who wield Life-Fibers aren't entitled to judge!"**

She turned and blinked. _Life-Fiber users aren't entitled to judge? What does that mean...was he attacked by the mohawk man?_

The three continued on their way towards the infirmary, leaving Ruby frozen stiff as she had to work with what she just heard…

...Before she could make an answer, however, a large smash echoed right next to her, and she looked over to see a massive impact on the wall's surface-a Life-Fiber infused baseball lodged in it's very center.

"W-Wha-"

She turned to look out the window-now falling apart from the force of the hit-and managed to move her head just enough to the right before another baseball slammed into the wall behind her. The impact blowing out debris and dust and as the entire hallway practically exploded around her.

* * *

From a small section of the courtyard, Kazuya Ichiro grinned at the sight a good mile away. From all around him, the Honnoji Baseball team roared in applause and cheering for their captain, who stood up and waved his arms out-a Life-Fiber infused bat in his right.

" **Alright! Good job team! After school today, I say we all go to the local ramen place for a meal! All on me, whaddya say!"**

The team roared once more in approval, before an endless cheer from them could do nothing but drown out any noise from the world around them. Ichiro smiled at the team, before looking back at the building a mile away...and his smile immediately grew from ear to ear.

" **Look alive boys, we still got a live one!"** The team went silent and looked towards the building.

None of them had the excellent eyesight that Ichiro had, but they all could make out the red in the building. Ichiro saw much more though-seeing Ruby Rose on her knees breathing heavily. She turned to look in their direction, maybe even spotting them from this distance. Hell, he even considered it looking as her eyes lit up the minute she spotted him.

He grinned. " **Look at that, boys! She can see us! Let's give her something to watch why don't we!"** The baseball team yelled in agreement. " **PITCHERS! Line it up!"**

Within seconds, the area in front of Kazuya opened up, and was soon populated by a line of Honnoji baseball pitchers at the ready. He drooped his knees and brought his bat back behind him. He smiled and closed one eye-which was all he needed to deal with Miss Rose.

Ruby seemed to notice the set up they were making, because he noticed her finally get to her feet, her pace quickening until she was running through the corridors. Kazuya looked at the pitcher before him and nodded. Said pitcher raised his one leg, pulled back his arm, and lobbed a baseball toward him…

...He hit it hard enough that the impact between the ball and his bat caused a shockwave. For a minute, the world seemed to freeze as the force of the ball collided with the force of the bat. Both fighting for control of which one would go first...the answer, of course, was rather obvious.

The weight behind the ball gave out under pressure of the bat, and the ball was flying, breaking the sound barrier in a second and causing several of the team to cover their ears. It wasn't even a minute before the ball reached the building, smashing through the wall and into the hall-which promptly exploded from the impact. Ruby barely had enough time to react, using her super speed to barely dodge it.

Kazuya smirked as he asked for the process to repeat. And once again, a pitcher stood before him and threw him the ball, which he smacked toward the girl at speeds that only fighter jets could fly at.

Repeatedly he did this, each time figuring out something within the first few hits. _Ruby Rose is an extremely fast individual, possibly capable of seeing at distances a normal person's eyes couldn't look at. She's seemingly panicked or frazzled from the sudden attack out of nowhere, therefore making her initiate the "flight" part of a fight or flight response. Due to this, she's also not counterattacking with her weapon-presumably too focused on not getting hit to notice. This also means that she's focused on my baseballs that are sent right at her...and not at the ones sent in her general path, or at her feet. The main source of her speed...bingo-_

"-I've got you now." He waited for the next pitcher, who pitched the ball at him. " **Strike one: You falter!"**

He hit the ball and sent it flying, but not towards Ruby herself. For a minute, Ruby seemed confused at what he was really doing...then she felt something smack her right foot-sending her flying off her feet. It was only after looking down-and feeling her Aura practically do a flip-that she spotted the baseball continuing onward from where her foot had just stepped.

Kazuya wasted no time for the next one. " **Strike two: You're knocked out!"**

It came so fast that all Ruby could notice of it was the impact between the ball and where her ribs would usually be hit, if not for her Aura. Nonetheless, the blow practically made her heave air and spit, and she smashed through the nearby wall-her Aura disappearing entirely from the attack.

Kazuya smiled, knowing that he had won this. The last pitcher took up a position and threw the ball at him. " **Strike three-"**

He felt the baseball connect with his bat…

" **YOU'RE DONE!"**

" **NOT A CHANCE IN HELL!"**

It happened quickly enough that Ichiro barely had enough time to react, putting the full force of his arms behind the bat. The baseball it had smacked itself against the moment it tried to fly off was cut in half, both parts spiraling off in different directions. The first grazed the Honnoji walls, sending debris flying as it quietly flew off into the sky, until it's velocity sputtered and it fell to the ground quietly…

The other one flew right into the building itself, smashing through several walls. It's path barely avoiding several No-Star students...then suddenly being stopped in it's tracks as Ira Gamagoori-currently walking down the hall at the time-catched the ball with one bare hand and turned to look down at his hand.

Gamagoori stared at the one half of a baseball, growled and crushed it in his hand. He then turned to the window and looked down at the courtyard. He spotted Kazuya Ichiro instantly-his bat locked with the scissor blade of Ryuko Matoi in Kamui form.

 _Damn Ichiro…_

* * *

Ryuko pressed hard against the bat of the Two-Star before her, a sly grin plastered from ear to ear on his face that only served to piss her off.

"Ryuko Matoi, a pleasure to make your acquaintance! Tell me, what honor am I being given to be graced with the...rather fine figure you have today."

" **Perverted bastard. You know damn well why! Why attack Ruby!"**

"Oh, such an interesting question! If I remember correctly, when you two assaulted Satsuki Kiryuin, you _both_ essentially came to oppose us correct-" She looked back in her mind to that day. While she could disagree with "them assaulting Satsuki" any day, she couldn't deny that Ruby did join in the whole "bring down your army, and kick your ass to kingdom come." The Two-Star smiled. "-So it's only natural that there would be a few that would target more than just you and that lovable airhead, don't you think…"

" _...Fucker…"_

"Oh, what uncouth language...but enough about Miss Rose. My name is Baseball Club Captain Kazuya Ichiro, and these fine gentlemen around us is my team. I would love to stay and chat, but I'm afraid that I'm out of time for today...So-" He pushed forward, throwing Ryuko back a foot at she rushed to regain her footing. It was at this time that one of the pitcher's pulled an underhand throw between them...and Ichiro had raised his bat over his head. "-With that in mind! **I'll see you two next time!"**

With a smirk, he slammed down on the baseball, smashing it against the ground so hard that it properly formed a crater on impact. Ryuko jumped backwards and skidded to a stop as she went to cover her face from the dust and dirt flown upwards.

It was a few mere minutes before the cloud cleared, but by that time every One-Star and even their shithead of a captain were gone-having retreated from the scene. Ryuko grit her teeth as her grip on the scissor blade tightened. For a minute, Ryuko thought about chasing after them, kicking each and every one of their asses, and making sure that if one even thinks of attacking Ruby, then they might as well die trying. It was only after Senketsu spoke up that she quashed those thoughts instantly. {Ryuko, calm down. You're blood is boiling...and besides, I think it's more important to focus on Ruby for the moment, wouldn't you agree…}

Her grip slackened. As soon as she heard Senketsu mention Ruby, she sighed. "You're right…"

Senketsu transformed back into his uniform form, and Ryuko turned to look at the building, where the wall was collapsed, and spotted Ruby. She was barely struggling to stand up, with her form having to lean on a wall for support. Her breathing was ragged, and one of her hands was gripped on her side where the baseball had hit her. She looked over at Ryuko and, with a pained smile, raised her other arm-giving a thumbs up to her as a way of saying "I'm alright."

Ryuko gulped as she started to walk in her direction, putting away her scissor blade in the process. All through this, she only had one thought going through her head as she made her way toward Ruby.

 _What the hell just happened today?_

* * *

 _What the hell just happened today, Tsumugu?_

Aikuro Mikisugi sat at the bar, having discarded the traditional disguise he usually put on for missions like this. He wasn't entirely naked, but he was instantly more recognizable without the floppy parted hair, stubble, and sunglasses…

...And considering what had happened today, it was probably more appropriate to stay out of costume, unless he wanted Tsumugu to smack him in the jaw…

 _...Speak of the devil_ he thought as he noticed the small sewing needle floating perfectly in his sake. He sighed, not even giving the red mohawked man a passing glance, before he started to speak. "I hate being interrupted." That's what you want to say, right Tsumugu?"

The man planted himself against the bar, his hands in his pockets and his face in a permanent scowl. Without a single change in tone, he spoke succinctly. "Why did you call me?"

Aikuro smiled. "Pull up a seat! The Kiryuins don't have eyes down here-"

" **Why did you call me?"**

He recoiled slightly, before he slumped forward-sighing. _He really doesn't like being interrupted, huh?_ He sat up straight, not bothering to look at his colleage. "Leave Matoi alone. This is a crucial period."

"I can't do that." Tsumugu said, getting up to leave.

"Satsuki Kiryuin's national school conquest is nearly complete, with Kansai being left."

This got Tsumugu to stop in his tracks, as Mikisugi continued. "Thwart the ambitions of the Kiryuins by using the Kamui." That was Dr. Matoi's goal, and that is the path that Nudist Beach has chosen. By attacking Matoi's child, you interfere with that path…"

He heard Tsumugu draw a cigarette, light it, then exhale. "That uniform is too dangerous."

Aikuro smirked. "And what if Matoi proves herself to be a powerful ally?"

He grabbed a small bottle of sake, and started to bring it over to another empty cup to his right. However, before he could pour, Tsumugu stopped him. "If she's consumed by that thing, it'll create a threat even greater than the Kiryuins. That's why... **I'm going to terminate it now. Before she get's consumed and becomes a monster.** "

 _...Alright then...I'm gonna hate what I have to say next._ Aikuro thought, as a single question came out of his mouth.

"People and clothing aren't enemies." Isn't that what Kinue said?"

He heard the glass shatter, followed by silence. After about a minute of people mingling in the background, he finally heard Tsumugu speak. "I owe you a debt, and I'll do anything you ask... **Except whenever it comes to a Kamui.** "

Tsumugu turned to leave. Aikuro, in the hopes of convincing his friend at least one more time, spoke up. "If HQ finds out, they'd confiscate all of your gear."

"I would still go after the Kamui...Naked Nudist or otherwise…" He started to take another step, before he remembered the incident from earlier. "...Before I go. The girl in the red hood...who is she?"

"...Her name is Ruby Rose. As for if she's a friend or foe, you can ask her yourself...provided she doesn't try to stop you from hunting down Matoi."

Tsumugu was silent for a second, before he continued his exit-only leaving behind a single sentence. "Nothing can stop me-not even a girl in a red hood."

With those last words, Tsumugu walked out into the moonlit streets of Honnoji City's slums. No one paying him any attention, and no one making an effort to stop him as he headed back to his forward base…

"...Ruby Rose...where have I heard that name before?"

* * *

Title Reference: Seek and Destroy-Metallica.

 **I nearly fucked up the chapter title. THANKS A BUNCH, BRAIN!**

 ***sigh* Getting that out of the way. WOOHOO! JUST IN TIME FOR THE FOURTH OF JULY, HELL YEAH! AND JUST AROUND THE SAME TIME THAT RWBY Vol. 4 IS ANNOUNCED UWWWAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH-**

* has stopped working. System reboot initiated.*

 **-WHJA-WHAT! Where am I...oh-I'm back at my computer, that's right. Hello ladies and gentlemen, It's CrazeStasis with CHAPTER 6! YAAAAY, I DID IT MOM! I DID IT!**

 **-And it has-*gasp*-an ORIGINAL CHARACTER!? WHAT!**

 **Alright, first, let me explain. Recently I've had some ideas for the story, ideas about potential sequels, and where to take them all. And while I would generally save the likes of OC's for a fic that is more along the line of "Original" (as in, it's a story directly from the writer, and not copied completely from what the fic is based off of), I've been having a very** _ **enticing**_ **idea waddle through my noggin for the last few days.**

 **So yep. Baseball Club Captain Kazuya Ichiro. I'm kinda trying something different with this guy. As most of the Club Captains seen in Kill la Kill don't seem entirely bright in certain ways. So I tried to make a captain that had a semblance of intelligence behind him, and therefore makes him more dangerous.**

 **Now, for those that are hating this decision already, don't worry! Ichiro will only be around for this small little arc with Tsumugu. Even then, I may have a special treat down the line for those that don't mind. (Manic laughter heard in the background).**

 **Now, with that out of the way. Let me just say that MAN, I feel back in the zone already! I don't know if this chapter is good, but I did have a good time writing it! Sure, I'm quite confident that someone will find something weak about it but in all honesty, I'm really happy with this one.**

 **Of course, for those that don't know it already, this chapter can easily be distinguished as set-up for the next one-which could ONCE AGAIN be rather lengthy upon being fully written. I won't exactly know how long-especially considering this next chapter will primarily be a large clash between A.) Ryuko and Tsumugu and B.) Ruby and Kazuya. But considering how much may happen, it may be very long or just the same length as always...who knows. For now, we'll have to wait and see.**

 **And as for Kazuya's "plan..." well, it's rather simple, but surely effective. We'll just have to wait and see what he's cooked up next time, won't we.**

 **Well, that's all for today, I'm afraid. For now, just remember to REVIEW-and if you want to, you can favorite and follow to your heart's content. I'm not stopping you.**

 **Alright, so what's the chapter title clue of the hour this time...oooh…**

 **Chapter 7: Treat' em like ladies, that's a fact! You know the chase...is better than the catch!**

 ***whew* Now, for Fun, Fedora's and-BizZIIT-What the hell...Why am I going all static-FZITZZ-WHAT! WHAT'S GOING ON. OHH NOOOO! SOMEONE'S -KZZIZZZZZZITTTTTT**

* * *

He sat on the ground of the Honnoji City slums marketplace for what seemed like an hour. His full frame was covered in dark, grimy rags-with the only unique trait to define him being the cap popping out from under the hood.

He looked up, having waited for the one person he was looking for, and spotted her instantly. _Young, but old enough to be a mother. Similar looks, caring-if ditzy-attitude. Bingo!_

The lady made her way towards his direction-several bags of indistinguishable food scraps wrapped in multiple plastic bags of various sizes. As soon as she was close enough, he held out his hand to get her attention. "Excuse me, miss! Excuse me! Are you perhaps out shopping for groceries this afternoon!"

The woman blinked, then smiled as she answered. "Oh! Why yes! In fact, I was wondering what I could get tonight for what little money I have tonight."

"Are you, ma'am. Well, if I could hold your interest for just a few minutes at best. Could I show you something that I'm sure your daughter would absolutely love!"

"Hmmmm...does it have to be for just _my_ daughter...why not my whole family."

He coughed. "Well ma'am! This is the strange thing. What I'm offering will give tons of good luck to mothers and daughters that have this meal-provided you can deal with a stomach ache for a day or two. Feed it to your entire family, on the other hand, and tons of bad luck will befall your family! See where I'm getting…"

The woman nodded, her face in a stony frown. "I see, so my daughter will get really lucky if I feed it to her."

He nodded in approval, and for a minute, the woman paused in silence as she thought about the offer being made. Then she smiled. "So what is this, exactly!"

"Right here, ma'am!" He pulled out a large piece of candy, which the woman eyed quietly, before looking past it and right at him.

"How much do you want for it?"

"How much do you got?"

"Six hundred yen."

"I'll sell it for two hundred!"

"Done!"

She handed him two hundred yen almost immediately, while he handed her the piece of candy. Within seconds, she was walking down the road, smiling as she looked at the candy. Before she did leave however, she looked back and, with a smile, said thanks to the boy as she continued down the street.

The boy smirked, adjusted his cap, and looked over at the lady as she walked away. "-It was a pleasure doing buisiness with you, ma'am…"

Kazuya Ichiro stood up, put his hands in his pockets, and started down the opposite direction. " _...I'll be sure to put it down the tab for tonight's dinner…"_

* * *

 **For Fun, Fedora's, and Insanity...PEACE!**

 **-CrazeStasis.**


	8. Chapter 7: The Chase is Better than

**NOTE: I do not own either RWBY or Kill la Kill. RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth, and Kill la Kill belongs to studio TRIGGER…**

 **NOTE 2: Apparently, the chapter title is too fucking big to put in, so sorry if it says "The Chase is Better than...**

* * *

The slums were in an uproar of cheers and chants. Many passerby would look over at the source to see what was going on, wondering what was cause for celebration. A few of these would stare in dead silence before quickly making their way. Others watched intently, wondering why _they_ would be here with furrowed brows. And others more, with a passing interest, approached hesitantly. Wondering if they may be punished for even wanting to talk to them.

The members of the Honnoji Baseball team were gathered around the front courtyard of Fushigi Ramen. One of the biggest food stops in Honnoji, and praised even outside of the city for it's excellent service (even among the slums), spacious seating and atmosphere, and most of all... **good food**.

Multiple members cheered loudly, pumping their fists into the air in celebration as several waiters and waitresses rushed back and forth. Bowls of ramen being set down, eaten, and promptly sent back for cleaning at a dizzying rate. Other members mingled with the crowds and No-Star students. Their approachable behavior and lighthearted atmosphere well known among several members of the community. And even more members were chanting, calling out passionately the name of their captain. "KAZ-U-YA, ICH-I-RO! KAZ-U-YA, ICH-I-RO!-"

Sitting at the center table, surrounded by the best of the Baseball team. Kazuya Ichiro sat, his legs propped up on the table while he slumped in his chair. His eyes were closed, as if he was napping, and a serene smile was on his face as the chanting repeated through his mind. The only ones staying silent being those around his table, those working, and those that were simply passing by.

He heard two high pitched squeals from behind him. He bent himself back a little bit more in his chair and bended his head back to see two No-Star students looking directly at him. Both of them female. He felt himself internally crack up as the two of them started to speak.

"Oh my god! You're Kazuya Ichiro!"

"-Captain of the Honnoji Academy Baseball team!"

"Can I...Can I get your autograph!?"

Both girls pulled out notebooks and a pen, and closely clutched it to themselves as they eyed him with wide-opened mouths. However, before either of them could speak some more…

"HEY! GIVE THE CAPTAIN SOME SPACE, ALRIGHT!-"

...The One-Star to his right turned around and started to yell at them. A natural response, considering the immense status difference between No-Stars and One-Stars. It still didn't stop the girls from flinching, however, and Kazuya quickly held out his hand to silence his club member. "That's enough, Sox."

Sox stopped, turned, and instantly bowed as he offered his deepest apologies. Without uttering a word himself, Kazuya ignored him and focused back on the girls. He held out both hands with open palms, and for a minute the two were too nervous and confused. Until they realized what he was asking for, and they quickly handed him the pen and notepads.

The autographs were done so quickly that the girls didn't even realize he was done before he handed them back just as quickly as he took them. The girls remained silent as they both took their notepads and looked inside…

"...Oh. My. God. WE GOT HIS AUTOGRAPH!"

The two started squeeing some more, jumping up and down in utter joy, before another of his teammates stood up, walked over them, and politely guided them away from the party. Kazuya smiled as he sat his chair back down normally. One of his teammates started chuckling as he loomed closer to him. "Man, boss! Share in the fangirls, why don't ya!"

"Well, it's not my fault they find me attractive. Hell, all I do is play baseball twenty-four seven."

"And yet...all the ladies still seem to fawn all over _you_." Another member said with a deflated tone. He shrugged

"...Maybe it's the blonde hair, hazel eyes?"

"...How about we go with silver eyes...or dark, red tipped hair."

Everyone went silent as they turned to the member farthest from the captain. His expression was far more stoic and serious, with his arms crossed together. He looked over at him, his mind clearly about the elephant in the room. "Why did we attack Ruby Rose and not Ryuko Matoi? Only one of them has that weird Goku Uniform...so why go after the one with super speed and a crazy gun scythe instead?"

Everybody was paused, the question sinking into the air around them as their minds took it all in. Why did they attack Ruby Rose? Wouldn't Matoi be a more valuable target? Soon everyone turned to Kazuya, asking about what they were doing, or if they were even doing the right thing. All of them kept asking, until Kazuya held his hand up, silencing them.

Kazuya smirked. "You're right, Yankee. Why would we-the Honnoji Academy Baseball Club-not target a target of seemingly more worth and instead go after the other one? It will certainly raise a few eyebrows here and there, throw a few questions too. But you see, there is one thing about it that certainly makes one wonder...What's so valuable about a girl in a red cloak, fancy gothic outfit, and wielding a _wicked_ cool scythe-slash-sniper rifle? And when I thought back to it...I remember " _That"_ day."

Everyone gulped down air. They all knew what he was talking about, that battle more than a few days ago. And they all remembered what came of it all…

Kazuya continued as he started climbing up onto the table. "Of course, Matoi is still a dangerous foe. Heck, she could possibly end up even more dangerous than Ruby Rose...and there may even be a day when _we_ have to go up against her...and that's when I saw " _It."_ " His empathization of the last word drew several quieted breathes. Surely he wasn't meaning…

He smiled, as everyone came to the same conclusion instantly. He sat on the table with his legs crossed, picked up a bowl of ramen, and quickly sucked up a group of noodles. "This may come back to bite me in the ass...but regardless, confidence is something I'm _far_ from lacking."

He looked around. Everyone was stark silent, their gazes almost lifeless. He chuckled softly. "Since the day you all became members of the Baseball Club, every single one of you have put your trust in me. You've told me secrets, doubts in your minds, and hardships in your lives. All of you have believed in me, regardless of how strange my actions or choices may be. So now I'll ask you this...would you still believe in me. Will you still trust me!?"

Everyone remained silent as he raised his bowl into the air, closing his eyes in the process. For an extended amount of time, he heard nothing, no one speaking up as if in agreement. Then he heard it...the words he wanted to hear.

"The captain is right. Of course we will still trust you! Who could never trust Captain Ichiro!"

The chanting began immediately afterward. First yelled out by one voice...then another, and another, and another. Until the entire room echoed throughout. A constant repetition of his title and his name, yelled out for the surrounding area to hear loudly. "CAPTAIN ICHIRO, CAPTAIN ICHIRO, CAPTAIN ICHIRO, CAPTAIN ICHIRO!"

Kazuya Ichiro smiled, bringing the bowl down to his lips and sucking up the broth inside. As he sucked down the last of his food, he opened his eyes, looking at the cheer around him...and mentally cracking up.

 _Seems my plans are coming together..._ _ **both of them**_ _._

* * *

Satsuki Kiryuin watched the screen intently as she watched the Baseball team celebrate. Her eyes in particular focused on the lone figure sitting on the table silently. His name being chanted by the One-Stars around him.

Silently she called up Inumuta on the intercom, and soon the blue haired member of the Elite Four appeared on the screen. You called me, Lady Satsuki?"

"Yes Inumuta. I have a request for you…"

"Yes, M'lady."

"...I want you to investigate Baseball Club Captain Kazuya Ichiro...I'm getting a gut feeling that Ichiro is more than he seems."

"A gut feeling...somewhat of a rarity from you, M'lady." He quickly typed something on his side before looking up at her once more. "Nonetheless, your wish is my command...Kazuya Ichiro coming right up."

Inumuta's face disappeared, turning back to the celebration. Satsuki continued to focus on Ichiro, watching as the captain remained still, his eyes completely closed. Sighing, she got up and started to walk away. As she did though, a disturbing feeling entered the back of her mind and she reluctantly turned back to the screen...then felt her heart skip a beat as Ichiro opened his eyes, looked directly towards the camera, and cracked a smile. Raising his bowl toward the screen.

 _He knew...he's being watched?_

Kazuya looked away, bringing the bowl to his mouth once more. Before the screen fizzed out and left her completely in darkness.

* * *

 **Crimson Incandescence**

 **Chapter 7: The Chase is Better than the Catch.**

* * *

 _I don't have any appetite…_

Ryuko Matoi sat at the table, chopsticks and a bowl of rice in each hand, and her mind deep in thought. It had been well over five hours since the events earlier today. Events which were weighing heavily on her mind throughout the day since then. The Mankanshoku's were wolfing down food wildly as Mako held a conversation with her family, the girl herself "full of vim and vigor" like the Mohawk said earlier. The only one missing was Ruby…

Ryuko remembered it vividly enough. She ran to Ruby's aid immediately after chasing that Two-Star bastard away from them. She only had a second to be glad before Ruby got to her feet and started marching off toward the gate…

" _He-Hey! Where are you going? Hey…"_

...That was all she was sure she got out before Ruby disappeared in a blur of red and rose petals, going at speed Ryuko couldn't hold a candle to. Since then, she's waited and waited for her to return...and was growing more disappointed as the minutes ticked by. And so Ryuko sat there at the table...as Guts started chowing down on her plate of food.

...Wait, what?

"Earth to Ryuko!" She flinched as Mako suddenly appeared in her face, food sputtering out as she spoke. "Guts is gonna eat all your food again!"

It was true, the hoodie-wearing dog was chewing into her food voraciously. A large T-bone steak flapping between his maw as food flew from him in all directions…

 _...I don't have any appetite._

Senketsu was, for lack of a better choice of words, spazzing out. {Stop it, mutt! Don't climb on me, or dig your claws into me! Don't drool, or FART, OR SHIT, OR PUKE! RYUKO! DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS MUTT! PLEASE!}

 _...I don't have any_ _ **fucking appetite.**_

"I'm done."

The words made both Senketsu and Guts pause as Ryuko put the bowl and chopsticks down, got up, and started for the door. Mako watched her as she exited the room, shutting the door behind her, with a slight hint of worry in the back of her mind. It was only after Guts turned back to the food and started eating again that she shrugged and went back to her own food.

She rapidly ate up the bowl of rice, and noticed something different in the taste. _Is rice usually as sweet as candy?_

* * *

She stepped outside, the starry night sky welcoming her as she did. She looked up at them with a furrowed brow, her thoughts muddled and all over the place as the events over the last few hours ate away at her.

Just what the hell was going on? She had expected herself to be facing nothing more than idiots in Goku Uniforms, Satsuki, and the Elite Four. Not some guy with a mohawk and a weird _sewing gun_. Not to mention someone was now targeting Ruby instead of her. And who even _was_ that guy anyway! He was _way_ too coordinated to be a Two-Star. Was he some kind of extra Elite Four member that avoided the attention or something?

She looked down at the ground, not paying enough attention to notice Senketsu trying to speak to her until he was practically yelping her name. {...Ryuko. Ryuko!}

She looked down at the uniform, not uttering a single word. The uniform was staring directly into her eyes. {Your blood has cooled somewhat from this morning...could I talk to you for a moment?} He said, his tone somewhat solemn.

She sighed as she walked to the nearest wall and leaned her back onto it. "What is there to talk about?"

The uniform blinked, before it continued. {...Considering the events of the past twenty-four hours. I believe it would be best if you didn't wear me tomorrow.}

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

{Recall the demands that man made earlier today. "Take off your clothes-" and any others.} The uniform looked away before locking it's singular eye with her own, {-From what I can deduce, this man is after me. A sort of hunter towards Life-Fibers, with skills and weaponry capable of neutralizing-possibly even destroying Life-Fiber infused clothing.} He squinted, his tone turning serious. {If my idea is correct, then this means I am a danger to you _and_ to anyone else around you...which is why-}

"I'll still be wearing you."

The uniform flinched and called out to her, while she remained silent. Her thoughts working through everything that Senketsu told her just now.

 _If this guy is a hunter of Life-Fibers like Senketsu is saying, then that means he could potentially hold the advantage over me here. I'd be left with having to surprise him, or try to hit him from long range which is impossible in my case. The only other thing I could possibly rely on otherwise would be...Ruby. Dammit, that's right, where is she?_

As if to answer her question, she heard something skid a few feet in front of her, and as she looked up she could see the familiar form of a red hooded cloak. Both she and Senketsu paused, before Ryuko started rushing towards the girl leaning against her knees and heaving deep breaths. "Ruby!"

Ruby Rose looked up as she saw Ryuko rushing towards her with Senketsu, both wide-eyed from the sight of her. With a small huff she waved her hand at them with a grin on her face, before letting out another large breath. As Ryuko reached her, she grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her over. "Are you alright!?"

"Yeah, just fine! Just...give me a minute...whew!" Ryuko stared at her, wondering if she had been running all day or something. She looked down at Ruby's boots and saw how caked with dirt they were, leading her to assume that 'Yes, she _had_ been running for the entirety of the day!'

She swallowed as the girl's breathing started to calm down. "Where have you been? You ran off like a bolt of lightning back at the school!"

Ruby looked up at her, her silver eyes as mirthful as usual. "Oh, you know! You get ambushed suddenly without expecting it...you tend to panic for a moment-" She stood up straight, then stretched her back out. And for a moment, Ryuko could swear she heard a crack come from it. "- _Ahh...that feels good._ Anyway, yeah! I sorta had a panic attack back there, ran for miles! I think I was on the outskirts of the city before I finally stopped…"

"Ruby...you got nailed by a baseball traveling at high velocity."

"Yeah...and **man** , my Aura is in need of a recharge!" She wiped her brow with her sleeve and stared at her arm, as if she had never seen sweat for the first time in ages. A quick snort escaped her afterward as her eyes turned back to her. "So...what happened."

Ryuko's stomach churned, and her expression of relief turned to a frown. She turned away from Ruby and started back towards the Mankanshoku's house. "What happened? We both got ambushed."

Ruby blinked. She had been heading to the bathroom when the attack began, so she wouldn't have known about the attack until she had got back...if not for that Two-Star from before. Ryuko leaned against the wall of the Mankanshoku family clinic, before sliding down and dropping down into a sitting position and looking up at Ruby. "While you were taking a leak, the guy with a mohawk and Life-Fiber combative weaponry attacked me and Senketsu. We were held at gunpoint and couldn't do anything about it."

Ruby stood frozen, realizing that if she had stayed for more than a few minutes, the result would've ended up completely different. She then remembered Mako, and felt her heart stop. "What about Mako-"

"Mako's fine, she got shot up by needles, but he said she'd wake up "full of vim and vigor." Me and Senketsu, on the other hand, would've been killed…"

"And you weren't?"

"The guy got a needle in his hand...guessing that the teacher saved us or something. But either way, we were dead to rights."

There was an oppressive silence in the air. Neither girls nor the uniform worn by Ryuko said anything, instead having one stand awkwardly in front of the other while they sat, bitter about the entire situation.

It was only after the silence kept up for longer than was thought comfortable that Ruby finally spoke up. "Is there a reason why he attacked you?"

{It is because of me.}

Ruby looked at the uniform, noticing it's single eye was narrowed. {When he had us captured, he told Ryuko to "take off her clothes." And while that could be construed in certain directions, I believe he meant for Ryuko to remove me as a means of separating us-}

Ruby took in all of the information quietly as her mind worked through it all. If this guy had weapons related to taking down Life-Fibers, then it's likely he was trained to hunt down and exterminate Life-Fibers. It all made perfect enough sense, so why did it sound like he was targeting Senketsu specifically? Her memory returned to that small moment between exiting the bathroom and getting attacked, when that one student was being taken to the nurse's office. Was that one of his victims?

Senketsu looked back up towards Ryuko, a hint of concern in his eye. {-Which is why I don't want Ryuko to wear me to school tomorrow. If my presence is what calls this stranger to us, then that means I am the immediate danger right now. Meaning that if Ryuko were to _not wear_ me, then everyone would be safer…}

Ryuko sighed, her expression one of slight annoyance at the proposal. "And as I said, I'm going to wear you regardless."

{Ryuko!} The uniform narrowed it's eye toward her, before it looked back at Ruby. {Ruby, please. Make Ryuko see reason!}

Ruby was quiet. It seemed right that the mohawk man would be after Senketsu if one looks at all the evidence. And if one were to give it some deep thought, then it could be possible that the...no. No it wouldn't.

She sighed, approaching the pair as she spoke. "To be honest Senketsu, I think Ryuko's right to wear you on this one…" She said, making the uniform's single eye burst open wide enough that she could almost see some seams. "While the idea of leaving you behind sounds good on paper, I think that doing so would more or less put the Mankanshoku's in danger. That, or the man would arrive and try to beat the location out from us instead. Add to that the fact that we're essentially at war with the entire school and I'm sure you can see why it'd probably make no difference."

The uniform seemed keen to protest, before he realized he couldn't win the argument and slumped back onto Ryuko's form. Ruby's heart skipped a beat, but smiled as she tried to console him back to life. "Now, don't be so down Senketsu. This guy simply ambushed you and Ryuko in civilian form-not in your Kamui mode right? I'm sure that you and Ryuko can take him down without a problem if you were transformed!"

The uniform looked at her, seemingly reluctant to accept that answer. Ruby pointed her thumb up at herself, a spark flashing in her eyes. "-And besides, this time I'll know to back you guys up! So turn that frown- _uh, is that a frown_ -ah-uh-upside down! We can do anything together if we put our mind to it!"

At this, Ryuko's head lurched up toward her. Skepticism written over her face, "Are you sure? And what about that Baseball club bastard who attacked you? Aren't you worried about him ambushing you again?"

Ruby snorted, waving her hand toward her. "Silly. I'm gonna watch your back and _you'll watch mine!_ We're friends, aren't we?"

Ryuko was silent for a moment. Now that she thought about it, Ruby always did stick her neck out for her. From the moment she arrived, to the fight with Satsuki, Ruby had always been there ready to fight at a moment's notice. Yet, at no specific point was there a moment that Ryuko had to stick her own neck out for her, save for earlier today with the small save. It made her, in all honesty, feel bad-like she had been using Ruby to further her own goals while she sat back and watched.

 _Friends...I'm certainly feel like a terrible friend right now...maybe it's time to fix that._

She smiled, raising her hand toward her to grab onto. "You're too trusting of people sometimes, you know that?"

Ruby smiled back, taking the hand with her own. "Well, a friend of mine's mom always said "strangers are just friends you haven't met yet."

"That's terrible advice."

"Eh, couldn't think of anything better."

Ruby pulled Ryuko up until both were eye level with each other. Watching this all, Senketsu sighed as he saw that the two of them had made up their mind. {Seems nothing I'll do will stop you from fighting that man...fine. I'll believe in the two of you.}

The both of them nodded in agreement, and with that the matter seemed settled. Ruby looked towards the Mankanshoku household clinic. Now that she was outside, she realized she had never payed attention to it at night...or at all, for that matter. She always saw it as a second home away from home. You know, other than Beacon Academy. She looked at Ryuko, remembering one specific line from earlier. "On another topic? What was this about Mako being full of 'Vim and Vigor?'"

"Hmm? Oh! The mohawk guy from earlier ended up shooting Mako with his gun. But instead of killing her it only made her fall unconscious for the fight, and afterward she woke up more energized than beforehand. Kinda funny, don't you think, that Mako would be _more_ energetic than usual?"

"Well...If we get into trouble, we can always rely on Mako to save us!"

That earned a small chuckle from the both of them, even though they both accepted it as true in certain respects. This chuckle immediately died in their throat, however, as the front door of the house shot open to reveal a panicking Sukuyo Mankanshoku. Both were immediately at attention as soon as she appeared, and she began to speak in rapid tones. "Ryuko! And Ruby, good! Come quick...Mako, she's…"

Both Ryuko and Ruby's blood ran cold. The two rushed into the house, with Sukuyo following suit. All of them wondering what was happening with Mako Mankanshoku as they bolted for the living room.

* * *

 **Several Hours Later…**

* * *

The two of them were silent upon awakening the next morning. The both of them got up, brushed their teeth, and got dressed for the day. Ryuko decided to wear the coat she had arrived in town with this time, while Ruby checked her backpack to make sure she had everything she needed. Afterwards, they quietly made their way to the front door, only stopping to look into the main room quickly…

Mako Mankanshoku laid in her futon with a thermometer in her mouth and an icepack sitting over a towel on her head. Her hair was all over the place, and her body was caked with sweat. She was surprisingly quiet for once, with only a small amount of mumbling escaping her, most of it being gibberish…

" _It...must be the work...uhh...of an enemy...mhmm...believe...it…pirate...platin-ugh...um…"_

The two exited the building, and silently made their way to the nearest tram car. When they reached it, they jumped on and waited for it to move before they'd speak. And as soon as it started to lurch upwards toward the academy, Ryuko pulled a small wrapper from her coat pocket and glared at it…

...Barazo explained it to them last night that Mako was suffering from a mild case of food poisoning-a Campylobacter infection, as he called it. Though the entire family, save Ryuko and Ruby, had eaten the meal Sukuyo had made, only Mako had gotten sick. That's when she spilled the beans about a "weird street vendor and his good luck candy" while shopping earlier that day…

Ryuko's hand clamped down on the wrapper. " _ **She was poisoned...the bastards."**_

She looked over at Ruby. The girl had remained silent for most of the time since then, with only a blank stare telling her that she was in need of some space. And now that she thought about it, she hasn't had a good look at her since they left. Nervously, she spoke out to her, "Hey...you alright?"

She didn't say anything, remaining completely quiet as she asked the question. However, as Ryuko looked she could see Ruby's hands tightening, and for an instant she seemed to be shaking…

...Then she seemingly returned to normal. The two rode on the tram for several more minutes before one of them spoke again. Ryuko looked over as Ruby called her name. "Ryuko…"

"Yeah?"

For a minute, Ruby stood still, with almost every single muscle in her body completely relaxed. Her head turned slowly toward her, and she spoke in a tone that seemed comparable to a blade scratching stone. " _ **Let's make this quick...with both of them."**_

There was a blazing fury in her eyes. She was giving off the most heated look she had ever seen from the girl, and her presence alone was radiating with rage. For once in her life, Ryuko Matoi was slightly taken aback. Was this really the same bubbly Ruby Rose who had introduced herself just a few days ago?

She felt a lurch, and she turned to see that the tram had finally arrived at Honnoji. With a shake of her head she swallowed, deciding to focus back on the problem at hand. The both of them stepped off of the car and stood there, until the tram started up once more and proceeded back down the city.

Ruby looked over, her expression now softer than before. "I'll go find a good vantage point to watch over from."

Ryuko nodded her head, and watched as Ruby disappeared in a blur of red and rose petals. Leaving her there alone...which was really getting to her for some reason.

 _I'm getting a bad feeling here…_

Reluctantly, she took in a deep breath and started walking forward. The feeling of dread slowly growing deep in her stomach…

* * *

The sun had been beating down on them for nearly the entirety of the morning.

They had all arrived earlier than usual. The Honnoji Baseball team had all been asked to come at the time, regardless of any personal problems at the time. None of them were late either, especially considering the last time a few had been late…

...They all remembered that day. And while they all respected and admired Kazuya in many ways, none of them wanted to be on the receiving end whenever he decided to do some "batting practice."

They had all assembled on the roof today, and were currently practicing their swinging save for Sox, who was told to keep watch for _them_ today. All of them were set up in rows, put farther apart from one another to make sure that they didn't hit one another in the process. The sole exception was, of course, Kazuya Ichiro, who stood in front of them and swinged. His bat whipping through the air, the sound it made as it flew through the air being audible even to those farthest away from him.

Kazuya's mind was quiet and serene. _Any second now…_

Sox was sitting down and watching the entrance to Honnoji Academy. To say he was bored would be an understatement in certain circles. He was rightfully considered the most loyal and hardworking of the team, as well as the most reliant of them. Unfortunately for him, this meant he would often have to do the tasks that everyone else looked up to him for, and it would often get in the way of his practice.

He sighed, rubbing his brow tiredly. _Oh how I wish I could be practicing right now...where the heck are these two?_

He had been watching the gate for at least several hours now. Neither were anywhere to be seen, and he was clearly getting impatient of having to wait. Would it have to be several more hours before either of them showed up? Could it end up being a few days? It's not like he would know…

...Wait. There's a girl. That coat get's in the way, but…

"Captain."

Everyone stopped immediately, their forms frozen mid-swing as Kazuya lowered his bat and looked over at Sox with a smile on his face. "They're here?"

"One of 'em." Kazuya walked over to the edge and spotted Ryuko Matoi easily standing in the center of the courtyard. However, only Ryuko could be seen, while Ruby was nowhere in sight. Sox looked up at him with a raised brow, "Looks like Red Riding Honey Bun's nowhere to be seen. What should we do?"

Kazuya grinned as his eyes scoured the school for any sign of a red blur or rose petals, his mind working through the possibilities behind her current absence. He pointed his bat and waved it across the surrounding area, "She's here...just hiding-waiting to pounce at the opportune moment. And the funny thing is that we are too…"

He turned to his team, all of them standing at attention. "Take up positions-you know where. And don't start anything until I give the order, alright-" They all nodded, "-Good, now move."

The team started rushing around, getting ready for the moment that Ruby Rose would finally appear. Kazuya, however, returned his attention to the lone girl alone and watched with a silent, smug expression. Ryuko was removing the jacket she was wearing today, revealing the Kamui hidden underneath.

He smiled, his excitement growing with each passing moment. " _The show's about to begin…_

* * *

{Are you afraid, Ryuko?}

" _Shut up."_ She said, her hands resting on the grip of the scissor blade, and her eyes focused completely on the entrance to the academy. The uniform she wore was barely moving, only flowing in the wind, yet she could tell it was worrying for her at this moment.

She looked down at her hands and saw that they were shaking. Taking in a deep breath, she tried to curb this fear she found building in her, but found it to be more difficult than she realized and promptly gave up. Letting her hands shake as she waited…

{Can you fight properly in this mental state.}

" _Yes, now stop nagging!"_ She couldn't help it, she snapped at him. Her breath became faster, and she gripped onto her blade tighter than before. Was this really happening right now?

The uniform went silent, it's singular eye only glancing up at her as the seconds ticked by. She, meanwhile, continued to breathe heavily as the thoughts of having to fight this guy started to get to her...not to mention the thoughts she was having of Ruby. It was only after the twelfth or thirteenth time she let out air that her thoughts started to calm down once more, and Senketsu spoke once more.

{We'll make it through this, Ryuko…} She looked into it's lone eye, {-But first, you need to calm yourself...and believe in Ruby for the time being.}

 _Believe in your friends...right._

She remained silent, but Senketsu noticed that Ryuko was no longer trembling, now being rather calm and collected. _{Good, Ryuko...now, stay focused.}_

Ryuko nodded, keeping a close eye on the gate as the seconds passed by…

It didn't take long, as a series of missiles started flying straight for her, all of them colored differently. Ryuko, however, doubted that there would be a difference in how they worked, and quickly reached for the pin on her Seki Tekko…

The surrounding area exploded, flinging dust and concrete into the air as the blast rocked the courtyard. In this small moment, the man with the mohawk started strafing to the side, a rocket launcher sitting over his shoulder, and his eyes focused on Ryuko's position.

In the cloud erected by the disturbed earth, Ryuko pulled the pin…

 _ **Life Fiber Synchronize: Kamui Senketsu!**_

...And the cloud dissipated with the swing of Ryuko's scissor blade, revealing her transformed state. The mohawk man, barely phased, dropped the rocket launcher and pulled out the gun he used the last time.

 _Gotta dodge that._ She thought, moving instantly as he opened fire. She ran towards him, moving from side to side, and under and over the near endless stream of needles as she got closer to him. With each step, she felt a scrape or two somewhere on her body, and tried to focus on the man in front of her. When she was close enough, she raised her scissor blade over her head, "If I recall, someone said **that he wouldn't let me TRANSFORM!"**

Her blade connected with the butt of the man's gun, stopping the constant needle spam for a moment as the clash of metal ringed out through the entire courtyard. Ryuko glared at him directly in his eyes, noticing the small cut on his cheek. The man meanwhile began to speak, "...True, but victory isn't determined solely by the superior strength of one or the other."

Ryuko only spotted the trigger at the last minute, but it was too late before he pressed down on the button. A fair distance away, the rocket launcher he had tossed away proceeded to lock onto Ryuko and, with it's target acquired, fired out five more missiles straight toward Ryuko…

 _Shit, that's bad!_

Ryuko prepared for the imminent impact, before a shot rang out, followed by the sound of an explosion…

A fair distance away, perched on a part of the Honnoji Academy building, Ruby quickly pulled on the bolt of Crescent Rose, before firing again and hitting another missile from afar. With a speed rarely seen, she repeated the action, destroying all of them, before doing it once more and firing straight toward the man with the mohawk...or more specifically, towards his hand.

The man's eyes went wide as the trigger in his hand disintegrated from the round. This instant left him open enough for Ryuko to smack away his gun and take several swings at him. "-Yeah, I get you. Victory isn't decided by muscle! **It's decided. BY. FRIENDS!"**

She swung upward, leaving the man barely enough time to block the blow with his gun before she sent him flying. However, as she started rushing him, her eyes could barely register a small, spool-like shape flying toward her before she could realize that he tossed it toward her...or that it was even there before it was blasted to pieces with a sniper round, leaving her free to charge.

The man rolled before standing once more, only to leap to the side and fire at her. She dodged as best as she could, rolling to the opposite side before charging him-spinning her scissor blade around her wrist like a fan blade. As he landed on the ground, he rolled back up, just in time to see Ryuko barreling down at him with her blade extended outward. With some fast thinking, he sidestepped the attack and leaped behind her, smacking her head with the palm of his hand to disorient her.

She fell and rolled forward. With a small smack to the ground with her blade, she flew upwards and skidded to a fair distance away on her feet. Her eyes managed to rise up just a second, however, before she could see several needles rocketing towards her. Reacting quickly, she started spinning the scissor blade in front of her, blocking or smacking away whatever needles were being fired at her.

The mohawk man kept it up for several seconds, having attached an ammunition belt to his gun. His eyes only managed to glance to his side quick enough to see the flash of light from Ruby's round barreling toward him, and he moved to dodge out of the way. It was only after he could see more clearly that the round was arcing towards the ground that he allowed himself a small breath of relief...and only afterward that he realized his folly a little too late.

The ground blew apart in an insane display of sheer force, sending him flying. He smacked the ground hard enough that it slightly cracked underneath him, and he skidded several feet away from the blast. Meanwhile, yards away on her perch, a hooded Ruby Rose looked towards her small moment of destruction with a stern face. " _Dust ammunition. Specifically gravity Dust-typically used to improve the recoil for Crescent Rose. It's also capable of blowing up any area it hits: perfect for knocking him down for a moment."_

The mohawk pushed himself off the ground and pointed it up, ready to fire, only to have it swatted out of his hands. His eyes darted toward the gun as it flew away, then down at the scissor blade resting itself just in front of his face. With a grimace, Ryuko stared down at him, ready for any funny moves the man may try. "Surrender...and get the hell out of town."

The mohawk man stared back at her, his eyes still steeled and ready for battle. He was gritting his teeth as he tried to work out a solution to the situation he found himself in right now. His eyes glanced back to the gun, while his hand felt around his abdomen.

 _Several spool grenades...a small knife built for Life-Fiber combat...the Kamui...the sniper several yards away...what to do now?_

* * *

Watching from above, Kazuya watched the conflict below with little interest, his eyes instead focused on the red sniper yards away from the battle. His face was contorted into a sly grin, which only got bigger as he looked slightly to his left...and spotted _them._

 _Well...seems like it's time to start the show._

He stood up and looked over to a teammate a fair distance away. With a nod, he confirmed the signal, and warned them all to get ready. Finished, he turned his attention back to Ruby Rose. The grip around the handle of his baseball bat tightening as he took up his stance.

* * *

Ruby Rose kept an eye through the scope of her weapon, closely watching the man currently on his knees with an intent that could only be seen in someone working well with their craft of choice.

Something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, and with a meticulous precision, she shifted her weapon several inches to see the source of this disturbance.

Her brow furrowed, " _It seems like we have some unwanted guests...looks like it's time to go and help Ryuko more personally."_

She made to get up from the knee she had taken...and felt her eyes go wide as she heard the sound of a small object soaring right for her…

 _Crap!_

* * *

A loud boom made Ryuko turn her head...and preemptively caused her own eyes to go wide as she spotted the perch Ruby had taken, only now smashed in. The dust flying up toward the sky as a result of the attack.

" **RUBY?!"**

Forgetting about her current predicament, Ryuko started rushing towards the area, her mind in a panic. Just as she was running towards the area, she saw several more baseball's begin to pound the building into dust from around the entire school.

 _ **Dammit, dammit, dammit, damm-GAH!?**_

She felt something small repeatedly hit her in the shoulder, causing her to roll forward and regain her footing. Turning around, she spotted the mohawk man with his sewing gun at the ready.

She grit her teeth. " **I don't have time for this you mohawk bast-"**

She was cut off as a small gunsen fan flew in front of her face, landing a feet away. Shocked, she glanced at the fan, then jumped away as several more projectiles landed at where she previously was, including some more fans and...is that a pillow?

 _What the hell?_

" _ **In the early dawn…"**_

At the sound of these words, several cards started flying towards the mohawk, who proceeded to swat them all away single-handedly. Reluctantly, she looked off towards the edge of the school, and saw the masses of Two-Stars and One-Stars gathering. All of them dressed differently, indicating their differences in theme each.

A group of students, all dressed in kimonos rose three of their members up above them-the one in the center indicated by his green colored Two-Star uniform. " **Presenting the Three Masters of the Honnoji Rakugo Club!"**

Another group, this time all dressed in a wide-top kimono and lavender hakama, sat away from them, their identical appearance making it difficult to tell which was the captain. " **100 Poems By 100 Poets Club! THE HORDE OF 100!"**

The third group, and the only one to get a proper response out of mohawk, was a bunch of students all huddled close to one another and carrying all manner of garden tools. A clue that led Ryuko to guess that this one was…

" **GARDENING!"**

The small one in front of them, with two stars and headwear on, spoke up for the group, " **Gardening Club Backyard General Manager, Squint-eyed Kusato Uwabami!** " His head raised itself as he addressed the both of them. "Now we're going to have our revenge for what you did on the terrace."

Ryuko was visibly shaking with anger now. Turning violently, she addressed them personally, " **Shove off! If you're going to get between me and Ruby here, then I'LL KICK ALL OF YOUR SORRY ASSES!"** She started charging towards them all, completely ignoring the man from before as he started pointing his gun towards her. " **GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY!"**

* * *

Meanwhile, several miles down in the slums, Gamagoori stood stern as he looked down at the Mankanshoku's surrounding her daughter. Despite the obvious conflict going on at the school right now, Gamagoori himself was usually tasked with making sure that students were coming into class properly. And it was during one of his routine checks that he realized the one missing number that day…

...And now that he stood in the Mankanshoku household, looking down at a sick Mako Mankanshoku, he understood why. The question now was "how did she get sick?"

He turned his head to the mother of the household. "Is this a natural cold?"

The mother looked at him nervously-obviously scared of the fact that a member of the Elite Four was in her house. Mustering up whatever courage she could, she spoke. "N-no sir. I actually ended up...giving her food poisoning…"

 _Giving her food poisoning?_

His eyes narrowed as he demanded she explain further. Reluctantly, she continued on, telling him of the run-in with a "weird street vendor and his good luck candy," followed by feeding Mako the candy in her food. Though he pressured her further for anymore answers, the woman could only sputter out a repeat of her explanation before he finally accepted it as the truth. With a bow, and an apology for his sudden barging in, he also reprimanded the Mankanshoku's for not calling in sick, before he quietly made his way to the front door.

As he exited, Gamagoori could only think to himself about who would want to poison Mankanshoku? She wasn't of particularly high value in Honnoji Academy, as the status of her own family could attest to. And, if one were to add the fact that Ryuko Matoi and Ruby Rose lived with them, then it would either give out two possibilities: someone was attracting attention to themselves in an idiotic attempt to fight against the two, or Mankanshoku's mother was lying through her teeth.

He seriously doubted the latter, considering how sincere the mother was. So if it was the first, then who in their right mind would want to catch the attention of our enemies? The only ones after both is simply the entirety of Honnoji Academy, as per Lady Satsuki's will. And while he has known Satsuki to use any means at her disposal to fight an enemy for a greater goal, he doubted she would try to hurt her own students purposely for the sake of hurting another. It was always if they stood in the way of her goals, or were to be punished for open defiance of her will and law-a proper way, specifically.

Next came that agent with the mohawk. And while it was clear he was willing to use underhanded tactics, he didn't think that the man would do such a thing to Mankanshoku. At worst, he simply took her out of the fight non-lethally, and is simply so focused on Matoi that he probably couldn't care less for the girl.

With all of that in mind, it only left one other person: the one assigned to hunt down Ruby Rose…

Gamagoori's head turned toward Honnoji, as a slight hint of rage started to build up inside-only noted by the gritting of his teeth, and the name running through his head making him want to spit on his enemies graves. Quietly he pulled out a small cell phone-dwarfed entirely by the palm of his hand-and called the one person he knew needed to know this...

"Yes, Inumuta...I have some information for you regarding your investigation of Kazuya Ichiro."

* * *

Title Reference: The is Better than the Catch.

…...oooooooooooooo **ooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! DAMMITFUCKSONOFABITCHSHITASSMUTHAFU-**

* has stopped responding, rebooting*

 ***sigh* Hello ladies and gentlemen! How are you, has it been nice here at ? I hope so, I really do.**

 **Anyway, it's time to WELCOME BACK CRIMSON INCANDESCENCE...once again...dammit.**

 **Well, getting into the nitty gritty, it's been** _ **far**_ **too long since I updated CI-far longer than the last chapter-that I feel like I've gotten a little rusty here. On one hand, this chapter has a couple of good spots. I feel in particular that the beginning is good, and Ruby's conversation with Ryuko is also good. While other parts are rather lacking...the way I write third-person in particular has been losing it's luster to me (With that in mind, please tell me what you guys think, that would be really appreciated).**

 **Now, going into the smaller details of the chapter. First and foremost, I didn't write the small falling out between Ryuko and Senketsu to be as bad as it was in the anime. There's a good reason, of course, because I believe that with Ruby around to watch Ryuko, her personality becomes a lot more softer and kinder far earlier than it does in the anime. Now, don't get me wrong, this is still Ryuko Matoi we're talking about here. And considering how the anime gets the more down the road it gets, and well...you know-anything can happen.**

 **The conversation between Ryuko and Ruby I wrote in a way that I hoped would show that Ruby wasn't as badly affected by the attacks as Ryuko was. I highly believe that, since Ruby has had to deal with some shit back home (NOTE: this all takes place before volume 3, in case you get confused that this is about...** _ **that...or that...as well as that...and, dear god, that.**_ **), that Ruby could essentially pick herself back up easier from a small scrape than from what happens in volume 3. After all, her friends are still alive and kicking, so what does she have to worry about.**

 **In addition, since Ruby would still be Ruby. I also believe that she would try to encourage Ryuko no matter what. Because it's Ruby: that girl tries to stay positive** _ **no matter what!...**_ **well, at least until her friends are hurt...**

 **...Talking about the moment in the tram between Ruby and Ryuko. I also wanted to make it seem that Ruby is fiercely protective of her friends, and that hurting her friends is a big no-no. That said, I really do hope I didn't just make Ruby have an out-of-character moment here. Ruby does change as the story goes along (particularly around the end of this part of the story), but I don't want it to be seen as so sudden. I want to build this up over the course of this part, and I'm hoping that this will be the jumping off point for that...not the diving part.**

 **Kazuya Ichiro...so, how is he? I wanted to write a character-specifically Two-Star-that was a lot more characterized than most of the others in the show, and I think I did a good job of doing that. On one hand, he plays a hand of sympathy and respect with his peers, yet if you look more closely, you start to notice something…"off" about him. A clear lack of fear towards those** _ **supposedly**_ **higher than him in status or power. Not to mention the feeling that he's more aware of what's going on than most other characters so far. It's almost like he's playing a** _ **game…**_ **(and like I feel I said too much.)**

 **Now, the ending. I feel I rushed it a bit. Sure, I feel like the end fight is rather good on it's own, but one can't help and feel that the way it shifts to the end is a little too fast here. Though, with that said, the next part** _ **is**_ **going to be practically nothing but a big fight scene, so who knows, maybe it's fine as it is. Oh, and yes, I'm leaving it on a cliffhanger for now. I believed that putting the entire fight into one chapter would be enough, but when you get to writing, it flows in a way that makes itself, I'm afraid. So the climax will be in the next chapter...and god! Hopefully it's worth it.**

 **All in all, a mixed chapter, I feel. Though in no way a really bad one. I also wrote the ending with the idea that Satsuki-getting suspicious of Kazuya-sent Gamagoori to check on the Mankanshoku's purposely, just so make sure Ichiro isn't trying to get in on the whole "take over the world" kinda thing, ya' know. Still, some context will definitely be needed so we might as well add it in the future if we can!**

 **Now...on the subject of the next chapter...or on the way this story will be updated in the future, specifically. From now on, I'm going to see if I can update this story at least once a month. I know this sounds bad, but I have some reasons here that I can explain…**

 **...First, when I started writing this story, I had a ball with it. I absolutely wanted to finally write a fanfic that I could stick to and share my ideas with people, and it seemed like this was the one that could jumpstart that. So I started writing this, updating frequently with several chapters coming in about maybe twice a month...and then I promptly burned myself out, leading to the whole unwarranted hiatus situation I've made in the past year or so. I don't want to do that all the time, so what I'm planning to do is try to keep myself consistent without driving me dry with a monthly schedule to do so. Hopefully, with that in mind, I'll be able to keep writing this story without any major problems, save for** _ **proper, well-warranted hiatuses or breaks**_ **from now on.**

 **Of course, I'm only going to try this out for now. If I fail to live up to that solution, then good god, I hope I come back to a screaming mass of people telling me to get my shit together when I visit the next time. With that being said, however, please don't expect an immediate chapter up at the beginning of next month. I'm going on vacation within the middle of the month with family, and I probably won't have much time to write during that time, not to mention Christmas on the horizon. Still, please expect a chapter around the next month in 2017...along with** _ **something else**_ **.**

 **...You see, I've been thinking. And now that I've thunked and all, I've kinda been...working on something else for the last month or so. Not another fanfic, no, but something more** _ **originally made**_ **. As in, not based on an actual IP from someone else like most fanfiction (though certainly taking inspiration from them, that much is certain). I've been having this idea run around in my head for awhile now, and I believe I should capitalize on it and make it something worthwhile. So with that in mind, I'm planning to write an original work and post it up on the internet.**

 **Now, it won't be here, and I don't think I'm going to post it to FictionPress, though I could think about it in the future. Instead, I'm thinking of setting up two sites for Wordpress and using that as the place to find this story. I don't have them up right now, but it'll be soon-the first one within the next week or so, and the next after I get back from vacation. If you want to know more, then keep to my personal Tumblr for more details in the future. Just look it up on Google or Tumblr, it'll be "** **CrazeStasis's Page of HORRORS (and insanity, hi!)"**

 **As for that "idea" of mine, I can't spoil much. What I can tell you is that it'll be updated on a bi-weekly basis each month (unlike CI, I'm planning on making the chapters smaller, at least around 10 pages in comparison to CI's full 15 to 20 page chapters on Google Drive). It'll begin out as a sort of superhero story, before it begins to branch out and show a world** _ **much**_ **bigger. The story in question will be** _ **insanely long!**_ **And finally...it's associated most with the number three…**

 **So there you have it, information on what I'm planning for the future. Like I said, keep an eye on my Tumblr for info. I'll tell you guys more over the course of the month. Oh, and the first site from Wordpress will be a personal sort of blog, while the second will be the "idea" of mine. Almost forgot to mention that!**

 **Ahh...so, with that out of the way. Yes, I've been keeping up on RWBY Vol. 4, and the episode today was AMAZING! I won't spoil much, you guys just gotta see it when it releases for everyone tomorrow, or if you have a FIRST account on Rooster Teeth. I've also been watching several movies over the course of the year. Warcraft was fucking awesome (FUCK THE CRITICS!), Doctor Strange was awesome (FUCK YEAH, THIS MOVIE WAS AWESOME!), and Fantastic Beasts was also awesome (FUCK YEAH, WE'RE ACTUALLY GETTING OUT OF FUCKING HOGWARTS AND SEEING THE REST OF THE WIZARDING WORLD, YEAH!) and...well, I'm still waiting for Assassin's Creed (FUCK YEAH, IT ACTUALLY HAD A FAR BETTER SECOND TRAILER THAN THE FUCKING K-WEST "I am a God" HORSESHIT TEASER TRAILER!).**

 **In terms of video games, I've been getting into Tyranny. I've been revisiting Dishonored (it's sequel** _ **has**_ **been released, so I might as well get it for consoles, considering the PC version apparently has problems) and Skyrim (I ended up getting the special edition for free thanks to owning the original). And I've been getting real into Cities: Skylines...yeah, I know, it's weird. I'm actually using it to map out the main city for that "idea" of mine, so there's also that.**

 **And of course so much more that I can't think about right now! I've got so much planned for the next year right now that I'm almost worried if I could run dry discussing about it all. So for now, I'll leave it all at that for now.**

 **With that in mind, remember to REVIEW-as feedback is always appereciated-and if you want, you can favorite or follow me or Crimson Incandescence. You** _ **don't have to**_ **, it's all up to you, but it does make me feel all fuzzy inside...in a good way...not that way. (god...not that way.)**

 **Now, where's that chapter title clue...hmm...ahhh! There we go:**

 **Chapter 8: Well fast as lightning** _ **and**_ **a gun, your shadow's got you** _ **on**_ **the run! You're such a fight I said you're the one, and I will only tell you once...You're in trouble!**

 **For Fun, Fedora's, and Insanity...PEACE!**

 **-CrazeStasis.**


	9. Chapter 8: You're in Trouble

**NOTE: I do not own either RWBY or Kill la Kill. RWBY belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth, and Kill la Kill belongs to studio TRIGGER…**

 **NOTE 2: PREPARE FOR SUPER LONG CHAPTER, MUTHA#$% 's (P.S. You guy's are awesome, you are not actually mother %$#'s)**

* * *

 _ **...GET OUT OF THE WAY!**_

Ryuko slammed her scissor blade into the side of another unfortunate One-Star from the gardening club as she pushed her way through them. Fervently, another one of them began to leap at her, only to go slack as she swatted him away-not even bothering to cut through his uniform, and instead punching him in the ribs for his trouble.

 _ **I won't be held back by you bastards! I WILL go and save Ruby!**_

She jumped up into the air, just in time to avoid a large, monstrous plant smashing into where she was standing. In mid air, several more One-Stars leaped up toward her, determined to press a futile attack. Gritting her teeth, Ryuko kicked both in the face and, using them as a stepping stone, moved even higher into the air.

" **RUBY!"**

She screamed out as her eyes looked over at the desolated area of the school a fair distance away from the battlefield. The area was being pelted with Life-Fiber infused baseballs, which shattered stone and concrete each time one of them hit. The building was falling apart as a result, to the point that the upper half of the school was now nothing but dust. Gripping tighter on her weapon, Ryuko felt rage boiling over inside of her.

{-Ryuko-}

" **Don't falter-"** Her eyes darted to the ground. The Gardening Club manager-or whoever the fuck it was-stared up at her with a large, cocky grin, " **We've got her on the ropes! Don't falter, don't let up-BRING HER DOWN!"** He crouched slightly (at least, he crouched about as well as he could, considering his size) and let the One-Stars around him water the pots on his back. From it, several monstrous plants popped out and started flying toward Ryuko.

"The only one going down-" She cut through the plants with ease and sailed straight toward the Gardening Club manager. " **-IS YOU!"** She slashed through his uniform so quick that none of them could register it until the manager was buck naked. This brought momentary shock to the boy, while Ryuko didn't even take the time to take note of it before she started running toward the disaster area known as Ruby's last position.

" **RUBY!?"**

 **{-Ryuko! Focus!}**

The distinct sound of a gun firing rang in Ryuko's ears. Turning so fast that the wind seemed to take time and catch up, Ryuko swung her scissor blade just in time to cut through a large needle or something. She didn't have a good look at it, and frankly she didn't care. What she did care about was _who_ it was that fired it…

Mohawk stood several feet away, his arm extended outward toward her as a small opening in his wristband exhaled smoke. Ryuko grit her teeth, _This bastard's still trying to get Senketsu, even when there's someone in trouble!_

"Leave **me ALONE!** " She slashed at nothing but air, yet the pressure from the swing sailed straight at him. Realizing what was coming his way, the man dodged to the left-just in time to avoid an overzealous One-Star from smacking him in the back of the head. He had a quick glance at the Mohawk, before he heard something coming his way...and soon felt the full impact of her swing rip his uniform off like paper.

Watching the One-Star run away in fear and embarrassment, the two of them looked at each other dead in the eye. " **I have to go rescue my friend! So if you want to settle this, then do it later!"** She yelled toward him, her anger barely on the fringes of control. She was sure that she heard Senketsu, but if the uniform did, then it was completely lost on her as the Mohawk narrowed his eyes at her.

"Nonsense. You are my target, Matoi. And I simply won't let you do whatever you please as long as you have that uniform on...even if it involves saving a friend."

 _This PRICK!_ Ryuko was on the verge of losing it then and there, taking a step forward with the intent to rip the man apart. Only Senketsu's voice stopped her from going through with it…

{Ryuko! Listen to me-} the girl froze in her tracks, turning her attention to her uniform, {As much as I hate to admit it, we aren't going anywhere so long as this man stands in front of us. The best we can do right now is quickly take care of this man and-}

" **And leave Ruby at the mercy of that Ichiro bastard!"**

{-I know, you want to go rescue Ruby! I do too, but we can't until we deal with the man with the mohawk first! We have to take these things one step at a time, so beat the man before you, _then_ fight this "Ichiro!" It's the only way!}

Ryuko's expression turned solemn, her body shaking in anger. Even though she despised it, what Senketsu was saying was absolutely true. Beat this guy first, then beat the other guy into a bloody pulp!

Relenting, she glared at the mohawk man as she pointed her scissor blade toward him, her teeth grit as she growled out the words from her mouth, " **Let's make this quick."** With a single push of her foot, Ryuko shot forward, yelling at the top of her lungs with her scissor blade swinging straight toward the man. The mohawk himself pulled out his sewing gun, his finger closing down on the trigger as soon as she was nearly face to face with him…

* * *

The sound of cracking, crumbling concrete rang in Ichiro's ears as he watched the fruits of his planning with a grin. The area where Miss Rose was standing on was nothing more than a ruin now, quickly disintegrating from the constant attacks of his team.

His grin grew wider; Miss Rose had fallen for his plan. From the moment he saw her from far away, he could tell that above all else, Ruby put a lot of her trust in her friends-cared about them more than anything else in the world. So if her friends are taken out of the picture for awhile, making it clear that it was him who did it, then it would throw her world out of whack. Suddenly, Ruby Rose would want payback, and would lose all rationality around other things like her friends to focus on getting it. She would've wanted to make sure that the man with the Mohawk was dealt with quickly, so that she could focus her efforts on Ichiro...not knowing that he'd strike at exactly this time. With her focus entirely on the Mohawk for the moment, he could attack her without any problems, and thanks to the Mohawk man and a few other _unfortunate_ school clubs, Matoi wouldn't be able to come and save her. Leaving her completely to him…

 _So far, so good. Now if only we can keep it up._

It was clear to him that this may not be all that it took to destroy Ruby Rose, so it was clear that everyone remain on guard. In addition, if Ryuko _did_ happen to beat the Mohawk man, then he'd have to make sure that she was severely weakened as a result. If she was, then he'd be killing two birds with one stone...whereas if she wasn't, then he would have to call a retreat. And considering how well the Mohawk man did against her the first time, and even during the fight, he was putting all his money on the former result.

With that being said...victory was certainly his. After this, Ruby Rose would be a broken mess sprawled across the ground, and Ryuko Matoi would likely be without that uniform to help her. He smiled. He really enjoyed thinking of what could become of both afterward…

He turned to look back at the main building of Honnoji. Jakuzure was standing in the window, watching the fight below with a content smile on her face. With nary a moment to spare, he bowed in her general direction.

 _Enjoy the show, Lady Satsuki, and your Elite Four...there won't be many more like this for a_ _ **long**_ _time…_

* * *

 _That Ichiro creeps me the hell out._

Nonon Jakuzure's felt her attention caught by the Baseball Club Captain as he bowed in her general direction-his hands swaying off to the side. Silently, she ignored him as best as possible. While she could handle the presence of most of the Two-Star's, Kazuya sent a chill down her spine whenever he entered the room. _Seriously, how can he seem so content and relaxed in whatever environment he's in at the time, it's weird._

Focusing her attention back on the ground, she watched as the Mohawk and Ryuko fought wildly-only turning away to focus on a club member or captain. The school clubs in particular were getting slaughtered throughout the fight, with students losing their uniforms left and right. She smirked at the sight; it may have cost Honnoji valuable soldiers, but damn if it wasn't entertaining to watch.

"Considering how determined you were, are you satisfied with sending small-fry clubs after them?"

She turned her attention to the voice behind her. Inumuta was leaning against the wall, his silent personage almost impossible to notice if she wasn't so used to it by now. In response to his question, she shrugged, "It would be boring to simply beat her outright, wouldn't it? Wouldn't you do the same if you were me?"

Inumuta remained silent as he watched. "This is an opportunity to watch a pro at work. Isn't this a perfect lesson to train for the genuine battle that Lady Satsuki has in store for us?"

"You've thought this through, I see…" Inumuta said, the front of his coat opening as he spoke. Smirking, Nonon turned around, approaching a music stand in front of a slowly rising curtain.

"I've been with Satsuki the longest. I know exactly how she thinks." She stepped up in front of the stand and grabbed her baton. "Maybe you should be gathering data instead of evaluating me, four eyes."

"Perhaps I should…" he said, just as she was beginning the small symphony in front of her. As she was just getting started however, Inumuta reached for his phone and answered it. After several muffled whispers and yes's later, he nodded and ended the call. "...It seems you'll get your wish. I have to go."

"Ho? Did Lady Satsuki call you back to work?"

"No, that was Gamagoori. He called to tell me to take in Kazuya Ichiro."

"Ichiro? Why?"

"Would you really care to know?"

"...Fair point." She turned her attention back to conducting as Inumuta walked out to conduct his business. With his absence, Nonon let her mind and spirit be taken away by the symphony. A symphony standing dissonantly next to the chaos happening in the courtyard below…

* * *

 **Crimson Incandescence.**

 **Chapter 8: You're in Trouble.**

* * *

 _Well, seems like Jakuzure's started her little symphony. Quaint._

The sound of classical music got caught in his ears. Quietly he listened, closing his eyes as the melody flooded his brain. It had been awhile since he had last heard classical music-maybe seven or eight years ago in fact. It reminded him of a simpler time...one before everything had happened several years later.

 _I wonder...if there's anything different back home...if anyone's gotten any better…_

His head started to hurt slightly as his thoughts drifted to where he previously lived, and to counter it he pushed them to the back of his mind. He had already experienced enough pain of that kind-he didn't need anymore he couldn't handle well enough.

 _Bring yourself back to the present. What's happening on the end of Matoi and the Mohawk man?_

He looked over...and smiled: _Well, it seems to be going_ _ **wonderfully…**_

* * *

She roared as she charged, her scissor blade swinging hard enough to cut through the wind. It sailed only to miss Mohawk's...mohawk by a few centimeters, flying through thin air as the Mohawk rolled away. Stepping forward, she also realized too late that the man had left her a present in response: a spool grenade.

 _Ah_ _ **shit!**_ She lept back, bringing her arms up to defend as the spool blew up-spewing needles everywhere. Her arms and legs took the brunt of them, and as Ryuko flew backwards she bitterly noted that she could make for a good porcupine impression before skidding to a stop just several feet away. _Dammit, I seriously don't have time for this!_

She looked back at the rubble that was the upper half of a block of Honnoji. The attacks on it were starting to lessen up, but there was still no sign of Ruby being okay, much less alive. Her anger flared as her thoughts drifted to what she would do to that bastard Ichiro after she was done with the Mohawk, when she suddenly heard the sound of a gun firing. Thinking fast, she started spinning her scissor blade in the general direction of the sound just in time to stop a barrage of needles from pelting her.

" **Fuck off already, I need to go save Ruby!"** She yelled, swinging her scissor blade at nothing but the air between her and the Mohawk. The swing being hard enough that the air bent against its will, cutting it's way through the needles and flying straight for the Mohawk man. With quick reflexes, the man bolted to the other side, narrowly avoiding the rapidly approaching attack as it cut straight into the concrete wall behind him. Then with a quick glance toward her, he ran toward one of the doors into Honnoji, disappearing inside as he entered.

 _-No you don't._ She shot after him and slammed against the doors, which exploded against the force hard enough to smash the doors though some nearby walls. Looking around, she spotted the Mohawk running down the hall before he turned, disappearing again past the corner.

Gritting her teeth, she started running forward, cursing him under her breath. However, as she was just halfway down the hall, the classrooms to her left exploded outward-several One-Stars charging outward and yelling a battlecry as they focused on her.

She couldn't react, and soon the entirety of the group piled up over her, stopping her in their tracks. "Did we get her!?" "I think so!" " _Get off of me! I can't breathe!"_ "We're showing her who's boss around here!" " _Technically Lady Satsuki is everyone's boss around here. Also, GET OFF OF ME!"_ " _Guys-"_ "Hold your breath, we just need to hold this long enough for her to fall asleep!" " _I don't think asphyxiation works that way dude." "Guys, seriously-"_ "Oh shut up, you heard Carl, he _said_ he can't breathe... _oh shit, he can't breathe._ " " _Seriously, GET OFF OF ME!" "Whose ass is in my face! I swear if you fart-" "Well, get your nose out of that place, you moron!" "Guys,_ _ **we're in trouble!**_ " "And what the hell do you mean by us being in trouble!"

" _ **I've had enough-"**_ Everyone flinched, then froze in fear, before the entire crew was lifted up. With horror on their faces they realized what was about to happen to them and started panicking. From under the pile, a furious Ryuko Matoi lifted the pile of One-Stars over her head. Then, with a loud grunt, pulled them back behind her-raising her leg before slamming it back down-and threw them all down the opposite end of the hallway. " **-OF YOU DAMN ONE-STARS!"**

The group flew down the hall, spinning like a bowling ball, before they hit the wall and "blew up." Ryuko didn't pay them any heed, as she ran down the rest of the hall and turned the corner. A group of stairs led up to the second story of the building, and she began to run up them fast enough for several students to pop their heads out-wondering what was going on-only to find nothing in the hall.

Ryuko ascended the stairs, "Where did you go, Mohawk!" She spoke, before she stopped as she noticed something drop from the stairs: a spool grenade.

 _Oh not_ _ **this**_ _again!_

The spool grenade-or should she say grenades-blew up, sending her flying up the stairs and against the wall. Sliding to the ground, she gripped the back of her head in pain, then cried out as she felt several needles riddle her in the same area.

"Dammit, how did he set up that trap so fast-"

{Ryuko!}

"What! I'm trying the best I can do here, it's not like he'll...last long?"

She had turned to look down the hall, and saw with horror just what she was facing: several One-Stars were gathered all around the ceiling and walls-some of them even through the windows into the classroom. All of them were shot up and covered with needles, and some were even crucified on mops... _mops…_

Ryuko gulped, _Darn it...just who am I facing here?_

* * *

 _Damn, that man is consistent._

Kazuya smirked as he looked into the window on the building opposite to the one he was standing on. It was practically a massacre inside, with various students all unconscious, and some even hanging from the ceiling. He wasn't on the same side as the man with the Mohawk, but _god_ he could admire the brutality left in his wake.

 _He'll certainly be a strong enemy to Lady Satsuki. I'll have to tell Inumuta that it's important to keep an eye on him in the long run._

He continued looking at the carnage left in Mohawk's wake, when a call from one of his men blared from a walkie talkie attached to his side. " _Captain! We've stopped firing as per your instructions. What's our next order?_

He turned back to the destruction left in his club's wake. A cloud of dust and smoke was now rising toward the sky, and as he looked down at the edge he saw Sox looking up at him, waiting for a signal. Taking a breath, he pulled his walkie talkie from his side and spoke into it, "You are to go into the cloud and check if Ruby Rose is still alive. If she is, then bring her to me…"

Sox nodded his head and, with his bat raised, took his first step into the dust cloud below. Kazuya smirked as he crouched down at the edge of the roof, waiting for his prey to finally be captured…

* * *

A feeling of dread was washing over Sox. He didn't know why-after all, how in the hell could Ruby Rose be alive after that barrage. But he felt uneasy, like it wasn't end of things to come...nor would it end favorably.

He treaded slowly with his bat at the ready, his eyes keeping a close attention to anything particularly red or black. His breath was surprisingly heavy, and he felt a trembling in his hands. _Calm down Sox, everything's gonna be alright. The captain's here! He'll keep the team safe, he always has...definitely!_

The dust was oppressive, and he could barely see anything in front of him. Silently he kept stepping forward, making sure to keep his eyes focused on his surroundings at all times.

Then, after taking a step, he looked down and saw it: a scrap of black cloth-somewhat ripped and caked in dust from the surrounding building. Nervously he bent down and picked it up, looking at it more closely while wiping away the dust that covered it. The fabric was definitely black, and upon closer inspection he could see that a lower half of it was also red-the main color of Ruby Rose's clothing.

Sox breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled his walkie talkie close to his ear. "Sir...I've found a piece of Miss Rose's clothing. She must've been eviscerated by the attack."

" _Good. Continue to look for anymore evidence before you exit that zone. See if her body's still there too."_

"Right captain! Over and out." He started to put his walkie talkie away as he started to grow calmer, _Look's like all of that worrying was for nothing…_

...That thought was the last thing Sox remembered before he felt a round hit him in the chest and he was sent flying-his body spasming from the electricity coursing through his body.

* * *

"Sox? Sox!?"

" _Help...me…"_ Was all he could hear before his feed started to cut out. Realizing what was happening, Kazuya stood and began throwing orders out to the rest of the crew. "All hands, continue firing into the cloud now! Ruby Rose is not down for the count, I repeat, Ruby Rose is still mobile! Move your asses!"

" _Right sir, let's get this show on the ro-AGH!"_

He looked over at the spot that a club member was at, only to see that he was gone-having disappeared from where he originally was. He heard another call in, " _Sir! One of our men just got picked off, I think I...oh_ _ **shit!**_ _Captain, she's-GAH!"_

" _What's going on? Guy's, what's g-OCK!" "Hey, Hey. Keep on the channel, she's trying to..._ _ **CRAP! No! AAHH!**_ " " _What the...is that-" "Shit, shit. Captain, she's after me-eee-ee-" "Captain-BWA!"_

Kazuya stood frozen as he heard the various screams and cries of his club members as they were picked off one by one. His walkie talkie shook in his hand as the voices of his crew echoed in his mind. _What the...she survived that attack._

Another scream, followed by a cry of pain, followed by a yelp from his men, followed by the walkie talkies turning to static at the end. He heard all of them loudly in his ear, and as they grew louder he started to have a panic attack. His mind flashed back to the many years back, and several of the screams started growing more and more in severity.

 _God no, not this again._

He gripped his head, which started hurting with a numbing pain. He grit his teeth, while the screams in his ear started extending far past him-surround him entirely until the screaming was all that he could hear...along with something else...something he couldn't pick up well enough.

 _Stop...please…_

" _I...ai-ng."_

 _No...no, not that…_

" _I'm-ait-ng."_

 _I won't listen, I won't!_

" _I'm...wai...ing."_

 _Get out of my head..._ _ **get out of my head!**_

" _...I'm waiting."_

 _ **Go away! GO AWAY!**_

" _ **I'm waiting."**_

 _ **SILENCE!**_

" **I'm waiting, Ichiro!"**

He felt himself be pulled back to reality-his mind shaken as he started breathing out heavily. He looked down, finding himself still in Honnoji Academy-still on the roof he had perched up on. He wasn't there...wasn't back in the place he remembered the most. He sighed in relief, realizing that he was in a better place…

" **You wanted me, Ichiro. Here I am."**

...And currently dealing with Ruby Rose. He turned around slowly, his eyes falling on the lone girl before him. Her scythe was unfurled in it's entirety and resting on her shoulder, and her hood was left over her head, with only the glint of glowing silver visible underneath. In her hand was one of his club members-held by the back of the neckline, and barely conscious. He turned his head to look at him, " _C-Cap-tain…"_

He didn't say anything more before Ruby threw him onto the ground and she stepped over him. Her glare didn't leave him, and from the way that she was looking at him, Kazuya could tell easily enough: Ruby Rose was barely on the edge of holding in her rage. He looked closer, taking notice of her grit teeth hidden behind a mouth that was barely open and...were her eyes glowing silver?

" **You poisoned Mako, didn't you…"**

* * *

Hate was something that Ruby had never really felt before. Now, while it was true that she didn't like Roman Torchwick back on Remnant, she never really hated him as much as she found him more of an unpleasant person that should stay in jail. The captain of the Honnoji Baseball Team standing before her however- _Kazuya Ichiro_ -she felt something burning and furious within her. A gnawing at her soul that made her feel...different, almost uninhibited in a sense. It scared her, yet at the same time she was embracing it wholeheartedly, like it was an old friend she had just reunited with.

She remembered on Remnant that the Grimm were attracted to negative emotions like anger and fear. So it's likely that she tried to suppress these emotions as much as possible while growing up, and without the Grimm to bother her, she was now free to feel like however she felt. In this case, if she were to compare how she felt towards Roman to how she was feeling towards Kazuya Ichiro, the feeling was entirely, disturbingly different…

Around Torchwick, she felt like just beating his sorry butt, planting straight in a Vale jail cell, and calling it a day. Around Kazuya Ichiro she wanted to beat him bloody, drag him across the entire campus of Honnoji, parade him in front of Satsuki, and tell him straight to his face that if he ever threatened another friend of his... **there would be consequences on his head.**

" **You poisoned Mako, didn't you…"**

Her voice was practically a growl as she glared at Ichiro. The baseball club captain, by contrast, simply had a blank stare as he addressed her-his voice barely audible, " _Wh-what?"_

" **You poisoned my friend! Don't you DARE tell me you forgot, you scumbag!"** She was yelling, her rage flaring up almost immediately, and her grip on Crescent Rose tightening. " **You poisoned Mako-gave her a disease that could've killed her-may STILL kill her! And all you can say is WHAT!?**

He wasn't respondent, instead continuing to stare at her with a look she found to be far more different than she imagined he be. Her body was shaking, " **Answer me...** or have you seen a ghost and are too shocked to even speak properly…"

At this, Ichiro seemed to respond. His head flinched, and his eyes seemed to light up, as if he was finally recognizing her presence. Then, after taking a glance at her, he started to giggle...which soon turned to chuckling, then to laughter. He practically heaved backward at the statement she had made as he continued to utter that raucous laugh. Then, he began to calm down once more, taking a deep breath in the process.

"...Maybe I have…" His face fell into his palm, "...this is truly embarrassing of me. Here I am reminiscing of the past, when I should be focusing on the present."

He looked at her, his face now the smirking, sly expression she imagined would be his general look. She felt her teeth grate against each other, before taking in a deep breath. "...Answer me. Did you poison Mako?"

He remained silent for a minute, his mind taking it's time to process and think back on present events before he snapped his fingers and smiled, "Ah, miss Mako Mankanshoku, I remember...yes, I poisoned her to get to you."

Ruby barely remembered what happened next after he finished his sentence. All she can deduce is that she saw red. She roared and charged at Ichiro-using her semblance to jump at him so fast that he wouldn't have any time to dodge before she cut him in half. She only skidded to a stop-her weapon barely stopping at his waist-when she barely managed to hear the captain speak, " _If you kill me, you won't realize in time what the real problem is in front of you…"_

She stopped, not even sparing Kazuya a glance, as she growled through clenched teeth. "Tell me now, Ichiro. Or I pull the trigger and split you in two…"

Ichiro paused-his hands raised-as he looked back at her with a smirk. "Ryuko Matoi."

 _Ryuko?_ This got her attention, and she looked back at the captain, "What has this got to do with Ryuko?"

A chuckle escaped him. He was clearly enjoying himself as he teased her with something she didn't know about, "You could call something like this a "gambit" of sorts…"

"A gambit?"

"Yes, a gambit. In essence, I attacked you yesterday, if I remember correctly. I perform what essentially amounts to a shock and awe attack, and I scar my face into your memory. That was the start, and then I poison a close friend of yours-whose father would happen to be both an idiot and a backstreet doctor-and make it obvious that it was _me_ who committed such a "heinous" act. You would angrily confront me, and not even realize the true problem happening right before your eyes."

"What are you talking about?"

"What makes this a gambit. Let me ask you this; where _is_ Ryuko Matoi at the moment?"

Ruby froze, as the puzzle slowly began to come together in her mind. Kazuya's smirk grew wider, " _Yes._ You see, around the same time _I_ attacked you, Matoi was having problems with a specific man of sorts herself. You may recognize him as the man with a red mohawk?"

 _...No._

"So I made a plan out of my head that was simple, yet perfect. I take out the middleman that holds you all together so she doesn't meddle in anybody's affairs, and then I attack you here, right now. Either two things happen: I'm successful, and I either kill or capture you...or I fail, and, well...I'm sure you see where I'm going with this."

 _...Ryuko gets beaten by the Mohawk man._ She suddenly felt woozy, as the full brunt of what she just realized hit her like a wrecking ball.

A smug Kazuya continued, pressing the metaphorical knife even deeper, "It's amazing really. That, even with eyes that good, one can't see the real threat in front of them. It also brings to mind a quote from a famous president of the United States: 'A house divided against itself cannot stand.' Little did he know that there are two ways that can happen: either turn both sides against itself, or blind them to their oncoming doom...wouldn't you think so, **Ruby Rose.** "

She was silent. Her mind shooting from one direction to another, looking for a solution or _something_ , as she stood there.

 _This is my fault. This is all my fault._

An explosion rocked the building as the section opposite of the one they were standing on blew open, with multicolored smoke flying out of the windows of the third floor. Ichiro's head cocked back to get a better look, his eyes blank as they fell upon the disaster area several kilometers away. "Huh, so it ends in an explosive finish, eh?"

Ruby's head flinched back at him. This was all her fault, with her friend currently in danger, and herself not even bothering to put her attention to it. How stupid could she be…

 _It can't go like this...I have to stop this...now!_

Ichiro smirked as he started to speak, "Well, Miss Rose, I do believe that this is the part where I've officially won. So why don't we move past the traditional "this cannot be" and straight to the conditions of your surrender-"

He felt something hard, cold, and metallic smack the side of his head. Within seconds he was flying-wondering what the hell just happened-before he skidded to a stop several feet away, falling unconscious in the process. Wasting no time, Ruby turned to look at the area of the fighting and took a running start. Within seconds she was in the air, shooting straight for what she was sure was a warzone…

 _ **I have to stop this now!**_

* * *

 _...Well, that hurt. My head's ringing…_

Kazuya groaned as he rose himself off from the ground, gripping his head and rubbing the place where Ruby had hit him with her weapon. The girl had gone off to save her friend, leaving him to gather himself back up in peace. Which was a good thing too, because his head was pounding _well_ before she had confronted him.

In all honesty, all he wanted to do was clear the field now. He was sure that his job was practically done-with Ryuko about to go down from the Mohawk, Ruby would be captured in no time. All he would need to do was take the credit when it happens, and he would be set…

 _...Of course, that's if the second plan doesn't override this one._

He rose to his feet and turned to look to where Ruby was heading towards. The girl was nowhere to be seen, meaning that she was already halfway there. Which is impressive-considering he was capable of following her speed well enough yesterday to counter it. He smirked as a thought came to his mind.

 _...Silver eyes. They're a wonderful gift to have, that much is certain. If only eyes didn't drive me up a wall like the other times...Ah well, looks like they'll be extinguished soon eno-_

He didn't get to finish his thought.

He felt something hard pierce his side, causing him to lurch forward. A slight gasp escaped him as his eyes went wide, and he looked back as well as he could to see what had happened. The light blue mop of hair was the first indication, followed by the green eyes obscured behind glasses of a similar tint to his hair.

He knew who this was-how could anyone _not_ remember any of the Elite Four. " _In-Inumuta...why are you here?"_

"Hello Kazuya Ichiro. It's unfortunate, but it seems that you've done something _very_ against the rules. And now Gamagoori has demanded that you be brought in...to stand before Lady Satsuki."

 _Gamagoori...I see. Dutiful as always._

He felt Inumuta's hand pull out from where he had jabbed into him, instantly followed by his Two-Star uniform coming apart as he started to fall to the ground. By the time he had hit the concrete, he was completely naked, and rapidly losing consciousness. The last thing he remembered seeing was Inumuta's lithe frame standing over him, looking down at him with those narrowed eyes of his…

 _...Huh. Seem's that second plan will happen after all...it's just a matter of...time…_

Inumuta stared down at the pathetic form of Kazuya Ichiro. He had never liked Ichiro when he first remembered seeing him. He was consistent, that much was for certain, but it seemed almost _too_ consistent at times. That wasn't even worth mentioning how approachable he was-which threw him off considerably. After all, with the other captains ranging from greedy, to arrogant, and even violent, why is there a captain in our ranks who's frequently _nice_?

 _It won't matter now._ Inumuta thought, as he glanced up to the wreckage of the building across. _What does matter is whether or not Matoi, Rose, Kinagase, or all three of them are captured...so let's see if Jakuzure can live up to her end of the bargain, shall we?_

Inumuta smirked under his coat, as he soon grabbed Kazuya by the ankle and began dragging him back into the building-deciding that he would watch surveillance later for any valuable data he may find from the aftermath.

* * *

 _...Ow...that_ _ **really**_ _hurt…_

Honestly, Ryuko would think that the poor guy with a bunch of those spool needles in his mouth was hurting a lot more than her. But really, she couldn't give a damn enough to care. So yes, that **really** , **really** hurt.

She tried to push herself up off the ground. The keyword being "tried" here, as she could barely move at all. She managed to get herself up to a momentary sitting position before she felt her uniform shudder. Looking down, she noticed that Senketsu was transforming back into his normal form…

{I'm sorry, Ryuko. I'm at my limit here…}

Without any warning, red light from the transformation enveloped Ryuko, and soon her uniform was back to normal-albeit looking worn and beaten.

She panicked, calling out his name loud enough for anyone down the hall to hear. A call that was only met with nothing but silence. She looked down at her uniform, and took special notice of the needles embedded in her skin and uniform.

 _...Dammit, how many are there?_

She didn't have time to figure it out before she started hearing something heading towards her. Looking out the window, she spotted the Mohawk swinging down at her on a rope, before he crashed through the window and kicked her... **hard**.

Almost all the breath in her lungs spewed out as she rolled straight into the wall opposite from the door, and she yelped in pain as her head smacked against the tile. With a groan she strained to look around, and found that she was in the boys bathroom...with the Mohawk man pointing his sewing gun directly at her.

"It seems the jamming rounds have finally taken effect. It seems like with all of the rounds you took, it would be impossible to bring down the Kamui. But it seems even the most powerful of Goku Uniforms have their limits afterall…" He said, his composure keeping itself as tight lipped as ever. Ryuko looked up at him, her eyes narrowed as she glared defiantly at him.

"...Now, take off your clothes. I've sealed the powers of your Kamui, and winning is an impossibility for you."

Ryuko pushed herself forward, "No. You think that I'll listen to someone who up and attacked me out of the bl-AHG"

She felt her gut lurch as the Mohawk man kicked her in the stomach. Heaving out air, she soon felt the butt of his gun hit her head, and she cried out in pain-gripping her abdomen as the pain pulsed through her system. The Mohawk man glared down at her, before he stood up straight and began to talk.

"Let me tell you two useful pieces of information...One: there was once a woman who believed that humans and clothes weren't enemies...a notion that made her a fool. And because of that foolishness, clothing betrayed her." He pulled the pin back on his gun as he aimed at Ryuko point blank, "Two: The path you walk is the same one she walked...and it's end is the same."

Ryuko looked at him, confused as all hell. " _What are you talking about? What does that have in relation to me?"_

"It wouldn't matter...you'd care about as much as she did when I questioned her…"

The world seemed to stop in that moment. Ryuko watched the Mohawk man as he stood there-his gun at the ready-and prepared for the worst. _So this is how it ends, huh? At the least...Ruby will..._ _ **Ruby!**_

Ryuko had almost forgotten what she had really needed to do. Maybe she forgot it in her frustration to beat this guy and save her, but she remembered. In that moment, she felt strength momentarily return to her legs, and with some major strain she pushed forward, launching herself forward and past the Mohawk man. The man clearly didn't expect it, and his eyes went wide as he started opening fire in an attempt to stop her.

She had barely avoided it as she rounded past the door and started running down the hall. Her breath was ragged, and nearly every muscle in her body was aching as she ran, but she didn't care. She pushed those feelings into the back of her mind as she focused on finding Ruby.

She didn't stop, nor did she wait to see if the Mohawk man was following her. She only bent herself lower mid-run to pick up her scissor blade on the way. _Gotta find Ruby...Gotta find Ruby...Gotta find Ruby-_

 _{Ryuko...Stop for a second...or you're going to run dry…}_

She set aside Senketsu's warnings as she turned the corner and started running down the stairs, just in time to avoid a stream of those "jamming rounds" behind her. She got to the bottom of the first set and rounded to run down the other, and was just halfway down them when she heard something clink against the wall.

 _Ah shit…_

An explosion from a spool grenade sent her flying into the wall nearby, and she slammed into it with a sharp gasp of pain before she fell to the floor. Coughing, she tried to crawl, hoping to at least reach the window and see what was going on in that wreckage of a building. However, just as she was getting anywhere, a set of boots landed in front of her, and she felt herself be picked up by the scruff of her neck and tossed into the wall.

The man with the Mohawk once again stood over her, this time with a more angrier expression. Cocking his gun, he pointed it at Ryuko one more time as he spoke up one small line, " **You just don't know when you're beaten, do you…"**

 _No...I have a different priority right now._ She pushed herself up slightly, so that she had enough of a view to look out the window. With barely any strength left she turned to look out the window and see what had happened during her fight with Mohawk.

The area across from her was a disaster zone. Smoke and dust was still rising from the area that was attacked, and nearly the entire part of that building was caved in. She looked for anything that looked red-anything that signified Ruby. While she couldn't find anything, she did spot something on the roof of another area opposite to the building she was in. One of the Elite Four stood on the roof-standing over an unconscious guy with blonde hair, and a pile of One-Stars all dressed up in what seemed to be baseball gear.

 _Kazuya, but no Ruby? Is she alive?_

A smack to her face brought her back to what was happening presently as she fell to the floor. Groaning, she glanced up to see the man, pointing her gun directly at her face. "Time to end this…"

She looked up at him, realizing that she couldn't win this. She desperately wanted to find out about Ruby-at least make sure she's safe-but it was clear that she was going to be denied this. _I'm sorry Ruby…_

She looked up at the man with the Mohawk and stared defiantly at him. Narrowing his eyes, his finger was tightened on the trigger, just as a cluster of rose petals flew from the stairs and smacked into the both of them hard enough to send them flying out the window…

* * *

Ryuko, Mohawk, and Ruby sailed out of the window, with the man being sent straight for the ground while Ryuko fell down after him. Ruby meanwhile had launched herself farther outward, and was now sailing to the ground with Crescent Rose fully unfurled. Looking back at where she had launched out from, she spotted the man as he pulled out a green and black knife and stabbed it into the wall. Instantly his momentum started to slow, and Ryuko was beginning to catch up with him as a result.

Taking in a deep breath, Ruby landed first-using the recoil from her weapon to soften her landing. The man with the Mohawk landed next, instantly rolling as soon as he hit the ground before popping back up, his gun in his hand. Without a moment's hesitation, he opened fire in her direction, and Ruby could instantly spot around fifty six shots coming her way before she did what she did best: she disappeared in a burst of rose petals.

For a moment, the man was lost. Confused as to what had just happened before his very eyes. Then he felt something quickly rest on his back, and he managed to catch a glimpse of the girl leaning on his back as she held out her arms to catch the falling Ryuko.

Ryuko landed in her arms hard enough that she ended up straining to stay up straight. With a large heave, she yanked Ryuko closer to her chest and pulled her feet up onto the man's back. Then, with a shot from Crescent Rose and her own semblance, the two of them shot forward, heading down one side of the wall while sending the man flying in the opposite direction. The Mohawk, not expecting the move in the slightest, rolled against the ground-smacking against solid earth enough times to get multiple bruises. As he finally skidded to a stop he immediately rose up to face the two girls.

Ruby skidded to a stop and planted Ryuko onto a nearby wall, where she began to look her over. The girl was barely lucid, and badly beaten over her entire body, with bruises covering her body from head to toe. Several needles were embedded in her clothes and skin, and it was clear that she could barely muster enough strength to walk. Ruby looked at this all with solemn horror...why would anyone do all of this just for _a Kamui?_

Ryuko's eyes opened ever so slightly enough to register her, and with a strained voice she tried to speak to her. " _R-Ruby?"_

"It's me. Don't worry, I'm here. I'm sorry, it's all my fault, I-"

" _It's not your fault...nothing's your fault. If anything, I should've watched your back better…"_

"No, no, no. Don't say that, I left you back there to fight Kazuya. I should've watched over you. I'm...I'm-" She was barely on the edge of tears as she looked at the battered form of her friend. Quietly she looked down at Senketsu and cringed at the sight of the uniform. It looked at her with it's single eye before looking beyond her. _{Ruby...behind you…}_

Ruby turned to look at the man behind her. He was marching toward them-his eyes and grit teeth clearly indicating that he was _seething_ with rage. Ruby could attest herself...she felt a pang of anger well up as she turned with Crescent Rose unfurled. Quickly she spinned the weapon around her upper body before embedding it into the ground and pulling the pin to ready the gun, " **Don't you dare come any closer!"**

The man raised his sewing gun as he approached, his eyes burning with fury, " **Move aside, girl. That abomination** _ **must**_ **be destroyed."**

" **No!"** She retorted, " **I won't stand by while someone threatens my friends! Nor will I let anyone threaten innocent life, be it human, faunus, or a piece of sentient clothing!"**

" **You call that "thing" innocent…"** He motioned to Senketsu with his gun, " **My sister thought that clothing was innocent once, and they betrayed her for that naivety. You think that after all is said and done, that uniform on your friend there won't do the same. If not, then you're just as foolish as she was."**

Ruby heard a coarse voice behind her speak out, and she turned to see Ryuko talk to him, "Wait...that woman you told me about back there...was that your sister?"

Ruby blinked, "Sister? What does _whose_ sister have to do with this?"

" **IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THIS!"** She turned to the man-now completely livid-as he began to shout at them furiously. " **My sister is DEAD because of monsters like that. One day-ONE DAY-it will find that girl of no more use and toss her aside like TRASH! And if you think I'll let something like that roam this world and cause more tragedy, then you are as blind to reality as much as the one behind you. DO YOU UNDERSTAND, LIFE FIBERS ARE NOTHING BUT PARA-"**

" **SHUT UP!"**

Ruby's scream sent out a shockwave that caused the man to nearly lose his balance. Struggling to keep on his feet, the man kept his gun trained on the girl as rose petals and a red aura flew out from all over her body. Meanwhile her face was contorted in utter rage, and her eyes-a distinct silver-started to glow.

" **You lost your sister to a Kamui is something I can give my heartfelt condolences to, BUT USING IT AS AN EXCUSE TO TEAR APART MY ONLY FRIENDS HERE AND DECIDE THEIR FUTURE** _ **IS SOMETHING I WON'T STAND FOR!**_ **YOU THINK THAT BECAUSE A KAMUI KILLED YOUR SISTER THAT SENKETSU IS NOTHING BUT A HEARTLESS, UNREPENTANT MONSTER! THE ONLY MONSTER I SEE HERE...** _ **IS YOU!**_ "

The words echoed throughout the entire courtyard of Honnoji, and likely out to the rest of the city below. Ryuko looked at her friend wide-eyed as she started taking in deep breathes from the seemingly endless shout she had just roared outward. The man with the Mohawk, meanwhile, stood where he was absolutely stunned, his face frozen in shock.

Ruby, with nary a breath to spare, grit her teeth and yelled out one more time, " **SO IF YOU WANT TO GET TO MY FRIENDS, THEN YOU'LL HAVE TO GO THROUGH ME!** _ **SO COME ON!**_ "

The world seemed to go silent, with only the sound of Ruby's heavy breathing around to break the oppressive tension. The man with the Mohawk looked at the girl before her, wondering where she had come from. He had met several people before that, to him, were weird or extraordinary in many different ways, yet for some reason this girl beat them by a mile. What was so different about this girl? The clothes? The weapon? And what was it about her eyes that greatly unnerved him?

He thought for a minute about the words she said. _Friends? She can't be talking about the other girl that was with Matoi yesterday. Is she talking about the uniform…_

It sounded stupid. After all, clothes can't speak, so how can this girl claim that a piece of clothing-much less a parasite like a Kamui-be a friend? At this point, he would consider the girl delusional if not for the fact that she was being dead serious. So what was it?

He glanced at the uniform on Matoi. It was clearly weakened-worn and strained from the fight that had transpired through the day. That was his objective this whole time...he couldn't just stop right here, could he?

 _No...I can't stop here._

He sighed, before he pulled the pin back on his gun, "It seems we have reached an impasse. Neither of us can agree on the Kamui, and it's clear we most likely never will...So for the last time, _move aside._ "

The girl-Ruby Rose-looked at him with a steely gaze, her hands tightening around the grips of her weapon. " **No."**

He paused, before he reluctantly prepared himself for what was about to follow. "Then you leave me no choice…"

He readied his gun-aimed it at the girl...and suddenly went frozen as the world around him suddenly seemed to shift to a realm made of nothing but multicolored light. His mind tried to process what was happening when he saw it appear in front of him: the Kamui. The uniform, now without anyone wearing it, held it's gaping jaw open and pulled him closer to it's eye. For a split second, he was sure it was about to devour him, and ended up completely taken off guard by what happened next…

It spoke, _{If you lay a finger on either Ryuko or Ruby...If you do,_ _ **I'll make you pay!**_ _}_

He gasped, just in time to see the barrel of a rifle-along with a large scythe blade attached to it-aimed straight in his face. He glanced up to see the scowling face of the girl in front of him. " _ **There's always a choice...you're just refusing to see it."**_

He was in shock. " _The uniform...it talked?"_ He said under his breath, which caused the girl to stop in confusion. " _Those two...care about each other?"_ he looked in Matoi's direction. The Kamui was still attached to her body, yet he was clearly sure it had talked to him.

Ruby Rose stood still, keeping the gun in her weapon aimed at him while slowly realizing that he wasn't pressing to attack them. For a few moments it looked like the conflict was over...until they realized that they were suddenly surrounded.

A drum-roll sounded off around them, causing the three of them to see the crowd of female One-Stars around them-each of them carrying various band instruments of different shapes and sizes. The sound of percussion instruments was soon followed by a group of One-Stars separating to let in the person standing behind them: Nonon Jakuzure.

"Your battle against the Kamui was magnificent." She said, a smug grin spread across her face as she addressed the man with the Mohawk. "However, I've grown bored of the melody you play...and considering who's aiming their weapon at you, so has another." She started to walk toward them. "-Hand over Matoi. And Miss Rose, I suggest you quietly surrender…"

Ruby Rose jumped backwards, landing next to Ryuko as she began to look around at the crowd of One-Stars that had surrounded them. The man with the Mohawk meanwhile stood motionless amongst them as he began to speak-his tone back to the stoic monotone he originally had. "Hand over the Kamui. To the likes of you people?"

"Yes...and if you'll be so kind, _you_ surrender yourself as well."

The man with the Mohawk turned to Jakuzure, "Let me tell you two useful pieces of information. One: None of you will ever be able to capture me...and Two: **I won't let you have these three, either!** "

Without warning, the man's clothes expanded outward from his body, before it exploded in a pink cloud of smoke that surrounded him, Ruby, and Ryuko. Without even flinching or losing her composure, Nonon called for one of her subordinates-a One-Star with a tuba, and had them blow away the smoke in an instant.

As the cloud dissipated, none of them were able to find the three of them. However, what they did find was something a lot more unpleasant: a spool grenade.

The grenade exploded, hitting several One-Stars and causing others to dive for cover as the jamming rounds flew in all directions. Nonon smacked the ones flying toward her out of midair, her smirk slowly turning into a frown as the number of them started to dissipate until the firing stopped completely.

Nonon walked forward, looking around the area for any evidence of the three perpetrators. As it soon became clear that there wasn't anything to find, Nonon sighed in slight frustration. _They all got away…_

She looked back up at the areas destroyed in the chaos. _Hopefully Satsuki won't be angry about two fifths of the school being destroyed…_

With that thought, she turned back toward the central building of Honnoji Academy. Today was a long day, and a full report of the situation was in order...not to mention Inumuta's data collecting.

 _That dog had better been able to find something..._

* * *

 **Several Hours Later…**

* * *

...For someone who ended up getting a serious beatdown just a few hours ago, Ryuko Matoi felt surprisingly at ease as she awoke.

Slowly opening her eyes, she looked around at the room she was in, and soon found herself remembering the various parts of the nudist teachers place immediately. Standing by the window was Ruby, who was looking outside the window opposite to Ryuko. She cracked a meek grin at the sight of her.

 _I see...Ruby's alright, so I guess that everything's alright...what about-_

"Senketsu!" She bolted upward and looked down to see the uniform still on her body-still a little worse for wear, but otherwise fine. She sighed in relief at this discovery, and looked over at Ruby who had turned and was now walking over to her.

Ruby kneeled beside her and started looking over her. "Are you alright! You aren't hurt are you? And what about Senketsu, is he alright?" She said rapidly, her voice quivering with worry. Senketsu blinked, then looked over at her and spoke in an attempt to calm her down. {I'll be fine. Likely thanks to that man, I suppose.}

"I'm also fine. I'll probably be sore for a few days, but everything's otherwise good." Ryuko said with a smile. Ruby exhaled, likely having held her worries inside for a long time today before now. She smiled and hugged Ryuko, who returned the hug...before flinching in pain from the beating earlier. "I'm sorry!"

"Don't be, I just gotta go slow is all. Let my body recover, y'know!" She let out a chuckle as she layed back down on the couch. "The real question here is if you're alright?"

Ruby snorted and waved a hand at her, "Please Ryuko. You're covered in bruises, and you are worried _whether or not I'm alright._ "

"...Well, yeah?"

She went silent for a moment, with her stare being nearly miles long. Then, as she took a seat, looking away she spoke, her tone rather solemn, "I-I'm sorry Ryuko. As soon as Ichiro attacked me, I just _forgot_ about you-forgot about what I really needed to focus on at the time. And as a result, you were nearly…"

"It wasn't your fault."

Ruby's head flicked back at her, an incredulous look on her face. "It was my fault!"

"No it wasn't-"

"It. _Was._ My. Fault!"

"It wasn't-"

"Ryuko, it was-"

"Ruby-" Ryuko started sharply, making the girl flinch at the sudden shift in tone. Having finally gotten her attention, she smiled at the other girl, "One: I don't blame you in the slightest for getting angry and doing something even _I_ would do given the circumstances…"

Ruby blinked. Her fingers fiddling with each other as she looked away from her slightly. Heartily, Ryuko continued, "-And two: _You were attacked first_ , and stuck having to face an enemy alone without my help. If _anyone's_ at fault here, it would be me... _and that bastard Mohawk,_ but that's beside the point. The truth is...we were caught in a bad situation. We tried to help each other the best we could...and, in my book, that's all that matters."

The girl was silent in thought, before she responded with a rather small voice, " _Y-You're not mad with me?"_

Ryuko held out an open hand, "Nope, and I doubt I will be anytime soon." She said, motioning for Ruby to take her hand. For a few moments, the red riding hood was a little reluctant, but eventually came around and-with a small smile-took her hand. " _Friends to the end?"_

Ryuko smiled, "Friends to the end."

Everything went quiet as they looked at each other with smiles on their faces. Senketsu looked at both of them and spoke, {Well, all's well, it end's well, it seems.}

The two of them let go as Ryuko looked down at her uniform, "Yeah...but _damn_ did I lose! It was a complete rout!"

{At the very least, we all live to fight another day.}

Ryuko sighed, "Yeah, that we do…" Ryuko laid down with her arm over her forehead as her expression turned serious, "...Senketsu. Ruby. We all need to become even stronger...No-we can become even stronger, if we're together."

Both Ruby's and Senketsu's eyes went wide at the declaration. Sighing, Senketsu spoke in a softer voice than usual, {Right...I am your partner, after all.}

"No...you're my friend."

The uniform's single eye grew even wider-stunned by the kind words of the one wearing him. He felt Ruby pat him, and both him and Ryuko looked at the smiling, "...We're both your friends, Senketsu."

The uniform felt a pang as he slowly felt his form relax in the company of his friends, {Yes, I am the friend of the both of you.}

The two girls smiled, "Just don't measure my BMI anymore."

{I can't accept that request.}

"But I thought we were friends!"

{We are. Lose 2cm from your waist}

"tw-Get off my case already!" Ryuko replied as she began to argue with Senketsu. All the while Ruby laughed at what was unfolding before her-glad to see both her friends were fine.

* * *

Aikurou flicked his lighter on, letting the small fire spew from the opening as he offered Tsumugu a light. "Well done saving Matoi. I'm guessing this means that your "debt" is repaid."

Tsumugu closed his eyes, "That isn't enough."

"It's plenty. Besides, I only put girls in my debt."

Tsumugu looked at the blue haired teacher and sighed as he brought the tip of his cigarette to the light. "Let me tell you two useful pieces of information. One: I'm only giving those two a chance-nothing more, nothing less."

He brought the cigarette to his mouth, inhaled, then exhaled as he cracked a smile, "-Two: If I see things coming apart at the seams, I'll be back to rip it off her-regardless of the red riding hood's opinion."

Aikurou smiled, then watched as Tsumugu started up his motorcycle and drove away-his job officially done, and his true path finally realized…

 _Kinue would be proud…_

* * *

Title Reference: You're in Trouble by Ratt

 **IT'S DONE! THE FIRST STORY ARC IN PART 2 IS DONE! HUZZAH!**

 ***ahem* Hello, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome back to Crimson Incandescence! I said it would be back in the next month didn't I? Well, It's here! It's finally here, I'm so happy! I AM BEYOND HAPPY! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH-**

* has stopped responding, rebooting*

 **-Alright! Let me get this out of the way, I had a ton of fun writing up this chapter! I had so much fun writing the first half of it that I couldn't help but gush about how much fun I had writing it! That's HOW MUCH FUN I had writing it (and now I'm sounding completely redundant now...** _ **derp!**_ **)**

 **So, first of all. I really had to follow several viewpoints here-specifically Ruby, Ryuko, Tsumugu (Mohawk), Kazuya, Nonon, and a bit of Inumuta. And I have to say that I think I did a good enough job following each one throughout the chapter. Each one of them I felt had a lot more coherence than usual too, though that's up to personal opinion. Still, I'm gonna say that I did good in these aspects.**

 **And the fight scenes-dear god, the fight scenes. From Ryuko's panic to get to Ruby, to Rube's countering the attack by the Baseball club (no, she didn't kill any of them. She just beat the SHIT out of them), to Ryuko's struggle against Tsumugu. Yes, yes, yes, YES, YES, YES! I FEEL SO DAMN GOOD WITH THE FIGHT SCENES!**

 **...Now, with that being said, I don't think this chapter comes without faults. I do believe that the second half of the chapter is significantly weaker, but I don't think it's as bad as it was before. What I'm more worried about are the scenes featuring Ruby, and certain things regarding how the conflicts are wrapped up.**

 **So first: Ruby Rose. To explain what I was going for, I wanted to have Ruby be enraged. I can't remember, but I think I explained that I like to view Ruby as** _ **incredibly**_ **loyal to her friends-to the point that she'll become furious upon hearing that their life is put in literal danger, or legitimately threatened directly** _ **under her nose**_ **. That was what I was going for, and the idea would follow that-being lost in her rage-Ruby would completely forget to watch Ryuko's back in the meantime...hence what a good majority of her meeting with Kazuya would be like.**

 **But I also wonder if I made Ruby a little too...out of character. After all, Ruby is the epitome of sweet and kindness in RWBY behind Nora, Penny, Pyrrha, and Yang. So this makes me worry somewhat. To be honest, we haven't really seen Ruby having seething rage toward someone in-series (save for a small way she say's "Cinder" at the end of Volume 3), so maybe I shouldn't worry about it. But I do-I at least want to do somewhat right by these characters, so I will always worry.**

 **Now, as for how the entire conflict with Kazuya ends...I'll be honest, he** _ **is**_ **going to return in future chapters (hell, the next chapter** _ **will**_ **address what happens to him after all of this), so I didn't end up having an epic final clash with him and Ruby here. If I** _ **do**_ **, it will be much,** _ **much, MUCH**_ **later. With that being said, I apologize if said end to his part in this arc ends...anticlimactically. To be honest, though, considering I'm holding to the rule that** " _ **Ruby Rose can kick Two-Star ass or lower without a problem."**_ **Then Kazuya would be** _ **utterly**_ **destroyed.**

 **And as for how the conflict with Tsumugu ends...I don't really have the same reservations. If I** _ **were**_ **to worry about this, it would be the stuff with Nonon afterwards that I would look more thoroughly at. So yeah, I don't exactly think the end to that fight is bad...though that's** _ **again**_ **up to personal opinion, so please share your thoughts.**

 **Now, finishing up with Kazuya. I feel a lot better with writing him here than I did in previous chapters. And this time I tried to flesh him out a bit to where he's not exactly an invincible antagonist who can turn a defeat into a victory. I tried to introduce some flaws, give the reader an idea of how his gambits blow up in his face, and also...well, if you read above, you know what I'm talking about. So, for now, Kazuya is out of the smaller picture** _ **for now**_ **. He still remains a threat later down the line, but for now he's small time...poor Kazuya.**

 **And, as an aside. Did anyone see some things in his character (the most obvious being his small breakdown) that seem a little** _ **off**_ **to you. If so, let me ask you this: Does this remind you of a different character either in or out of the two series...please, take your guess. I'll wait…**

 **So, to finish up, an overall good chapter, I think! Hopefully-considering I felt far better writing a large majority of this chapter in comparison to the previous two-everyone enjoys it as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

 **...Now, moving away from CI, let me discuss some things that I want you all to know about.**

 **So, first things first: COLLEGE IS BACK! And I'm gonna be in class for a good few months again. I'm telling you this to let you know that if I get delayed on this story, a good portion of it** _ **may**_ **be due to college, so a fair warning in the future.**

 **I may have previously stated that Crimson Incandescence will now be updated once a month, and I intend to keep it that way. It gives me enough time to write up an entire chapter (this chapter, without this bottom discussion, is 27 pages long on Google Drive), work on college, and...** _ **do something else that I'll get to in a minute.**_ **It also doesn't rush me in the way that I did when I started-which was likely why I took some** _ **huge**_ **hiatuses between the last few chapters. So, yeah, Crimson Incandescence, a new chapter every month! (God, I'll be doing this forever.)**

 **Now...I want to talk about something else entirely from Crimson Incandescence. If you read the last chapter, you may have heard me mention my Tumblr, or mention that I have a story idea in the works that I've decided to go through...well, ladies and gentlemen, I've officially started on that project…**

* * *

 ** **The Ternary.****

 **An Ongoing Web Serial by CrazeStasis.**

* * *

 **Yep, I'm doing a web serial novel (well, okay, novel is** _ **far**_ **too small a word for it. More like a web serial** _ **epic**_ **), it's to be updated on a biweekly basis (that's a chapter every two weeks), and already has two chapters up for people to read. It's beginnings are those of a superhero story, but as we go along the world will expand to certain subjects that are** _ **far**_ **more different to a superhero's journey (not that the superhero part disappears). And for those of you wondering,** _ **yes**_ **the name of the story has meaning behind it...just not at the beginning right now.**

 **Now, to reassure you. No, this isn't replacing Crimson Incandescence or anything, nor do I plan on stopping Crimson Incandescence. It's also entirely optional to you if you want to read it, so don't worry if you just want to stick with this little fan-fic of mine. It won't hurt my feelings at all.**

 **And to go into detail, the reason for the biweekly update schedule is simple: CI has around 18-20 or even more pages a single chapter on Google Drive, while The Ternary has around 8-15 pages per chapter. I can basically sit down and write a full half of the chapter in under a full day. Meaning I'm likely going to be** _ **real**_ **busy writing CI and this story in the coming months. Hope I can do it!**

 **Oh, and if you** _ **do**_ **want to read this. Look up The Ternary on Google or Wordpress-that's what I'm using for the site in question.**

 **Ahh...well, I'm officially done for now. So to finish, please-as always-REVIEW! If you like the story so far, then check off the favorite and follow buttons if you want to. You don't** _ **have**_ **to, but you can. And it's always appreciated.**

 **Now, what's the title tease of the day...hmm. OH! Oh, this one's gonna be very obscure if you don't know the song itself...**

 **Chapter 9: FLY! ON YOUR WAY, LIKE AN EAGLE! FLY AS HIGH AS THE SUN! ON YOUR WAY, LIKE AN EAGLE! FLY, TOUCH THE SUN!**

 **For Fun, Fedora's, and Insanity. Peace!**

 **-CrazeStasis**


	10. Chapter 9: Flight of Icarus

**NOTE: I do not own either RWBY, RWBY Chibi or Kill la Kill. RWBY and RWBY Chibi belongs to the late Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth, and Kill la Kill belongs to studio TRIGGER and Hiroyuki Imaishi…**

* * *

This was probably the latest that Ruby Rose had ever stayed up before. Back at Beacon, the school had a routine curfew that kept students from staying up and out in the city for too long, and making sure they were still able to have class without falling asleep. It was a generous curfew, to be sure, but still a curfew. And even before she started attending Beacon, Ruby always had a set bedtime so that she was properly up and ready for the world when she awoke.

This became less lenient as she grew up, but she still followed it well enough. By that time, the only nights where she stayed up past her bedtime were if she really had to cram the homework in-something which continued even as she transferred from Signal to Beacon.

During that time, her general bedtime was around ten thirty to eleven. Tonight, she had stayed up until one thirty.

There was a very good reason for this. After all, Ruby found that the extra time was great for stretching in some _well_ _needed_ practice. She remembered the various times before she found herself in Honnoji-the near death experience she had with the Nevermore and the Death Stalker, the sneak attack by Roman at the pier, the _accident with the White Fang after falling into Mount Glenn_ …

 _Man...that was embarrassing._

Getting in some extra practice would work in her favor in the long run, she thought. So here she was, swinging and spinning Crescent Rose around at invisible enemies she _tried_ to envision as Grimm. It was working well, in all honesty.

 _I wonder...would Ryuko like to have some training? She did have that_ _ **devastating**_ _loss against the Mohawk man from before._

As if to answer her question, a nearby trash can promptly flew in her general direction and, with one swift movement, Ruby cut it in half. And as she started to feel glad about how it wasn't filled with trash like she thought it'd be, she also heard a distinct and familiar voice call her name.

Ruby looked up. Ryuko Matoi was standing in front of her-her scissor blade drawn out, a confused expression on her face, and her leg risen up as if to kick something…"something" in this case likely being the trash can that flew at her. The two of them stared at each other, before Ruby's face turned red and she started hiding Crescent Rose behind her as she started flustering her words, "Ryuko! Hi! H-How'd you get here...Wait, how long have you been out?!"

Ryuko blinked, "First, hi! Second, I walked here, like I usually do. I just took a detour this time. And three, I've been out since school this morning, and I've been wandering or talking with people ever since."

"Ah! I see! Well welcome back! I-I'm afraid you missed dinner tonight. Sukuyo made... _mystery croquettes,_ like usual!" Ruby spoke excitedly, trying her best to keep Crescent Rose out of Ryuko's sight as much as humanly possible.

In response Ryuko, though still confused, kept a rather blank look as she looked at Ruby. "What are you doing with Crescent Rose at one thirty in the morning?"

"Oh, just…" she sighed, "...I'm just training myself in case the people at Honnoji have something up their sleeves, you know?"

"I see…" Ryuko said with a slight smile and a sigh. She walked over to the nearest wall and leaned her back against it, before she slid down and sat on the ground. "Well...don't let me stop you. I'd like to talk about a few things though if you don't mind."

Ruby looked over at Ryuko, wondering what would be so important that she'd put off bedtime to talk this late at night. Ryuko looked up at Ruby, and soon Ruby noticed something about Ryuko's eyes that she hadn't seen before: a look of worry.

...No, it wasn't the kind of worry like it would've been when Ryuko came close to dying at certain times, or from the possibility that she may lose the chance to discover what happened to her father. Those moments were often far flung and uncommon-certainly there, but not as often. No, that worry was often centered around herself...this worry she saw in her eyes was another thing entirely…

"Ryuko...is something the matter?" She asked, her voice softer than usual.

Ryuko stared at her as her eyes narrowed, and her hands tightened into balls. "Ruby...first I want to know...is Kazuya still going to attack us?"

A cloud of spite immediately entered Ruby's mind as she remembered the events from before. Kazuya had tried to play everyone for fools, and it would almost certainly have worked had she not realized it sooner. She bit her bottom lip and furrowed her brow as she groaned in frustration, "No...I was approached by one of the Elite Four yesterday as I was leaving school...he told me not to worry and accept the academy's most _gracious_ apology for his actions. When I asked if that meant they killed Kazuya, he told me that he was expelled instead-stripped of his rank and officially let go by the school...he shouldn't be a threat any longer…"

Ryuko breathed a sigh of relief as Ruby finished, "He said that Kazuya's poisoning of Mako is against their policies toward students-that only those with a an actual wrong can receive punishment. Kazuya's poisoning of Mako was towards someone who technically did nothing wrong beyond being our friend. As a result, Satsuki had him expelled…"

"I see, then _good riddance_ to that bastard...which one came and apologized?" Ryuko asked curiously. Ruby blinked, as her memory jumped back in time to the point that she met him.

"Let's see...It's the guy with the blue hair? Who wears glasses and opens the neckline of his coat to talk...yeah, it's that one."

"Oh, yeah. His name was...Inumuta? Yeah, Inumuta. He's the smug guy who handles information."

"That's him. Where'd you learn about the information handling though?"

"Come on, Ruby. Don't you walk around the halls and listen to people talk or just speed around like you do to and from home?"

"You got me there." Ruby said with a flustered grin-her hand rubbing the back of her head. She had been here for more than a few weeks, and yet she had never taken the time to stop and figure out who her opposition was beyond Satsuki Kiryuin, the Elite Four, the One-Stars and Two-Stars, and... _ **Kazuya Ichiro**_.

 _God, can't I just get that name out of my darn head!_

The sound of a cough brought her back to the world, and Ruby looked down at Ryuko as she looked at her with a much more serious-though still worried-look on her face. "There's another thing I want to talk about...it's something that I've discussed with Senketsu here as well…" She glanced down at her uniform, whose single eye looked up back at her. Confused, Ruby remained quiet as Ryuko began to explain what was going on.

"-You see, I've begun to notice a trend here...it's probably been around since we first started school here, but I've seen it more and more with each passing day. When we first started out, I was rather confident taking on Fukuroda and Hakodate, maybe even smug about it. I thought I could go through everything from the bottom of the barrel and have everything sorted out with Senketsu here within a few weeks since I found him...then I actually 'fought' Satsuki."

Ruby's brow furrowed while Ryuko's hand clenched into a fist, "I tried to fight her solo, and practically got flattened for the first few minutes until you stepped in. Then, a few days later, I meet Mohawk man for the first time and get into a fight with him that nearly cost me Senketsu, not to mention my own life when I made it clear I wasn't backing down. Both times I've been beaten regardless of whether or not I have Senketsu to rely on here. And even with Fukuroda and Hakodate, I've _had_ to rely on Senketsu to fight them properly...Fukuroda demonstrated that clearly enough when he kicked my ass on our first day here."

Ruby didn't know exactly where this conversation was going, but she was starting to get worried regardless. She blinked, "What is it you're trying to say, Ryuko?"

Ryuko looked up at her, "Throughout each and every one of those conflicts, you've been there to help or save me. You held off the academy thugs on the first day for me, you rescued Mako and made it easier for me to fight Fukuroda one-on-one. When Hakodate was winning in our game of tennis, _you_ recommended I use the scissor blade instead, and it won us the game. Satsuki nearly had me, and you barreled in and rescued me, then helped me fight her to a standstill. And even with Mohawk-when that Kazuya bastard was giving you trouble-you managed to rescue us in the end. Every time, I've gotten into trouble, and you've had to help me…"

" _...So that's what's going on."_ Ruby thought. She walked over and kneeled in front of her, "...And I'm _happy_ to help, Ryuko. That's what friends are for."

"Yeah. But everytime I've tried to see something through myself, it's always fallen apart. Every time I've taken the fight to someone myself, I've gotten my ass kicked. Everytime someone close to me is in trouble, I'm late for the party. I just...I feel like I don't contribute in the slightest. You have to _at least_ feel the same way, don't you?"

Ruby stood. Her expression was dead serious, and for a minute Ryuko thought she said something wrong. Before she could say anything else however, Ruby slammed the bottom end of Crescent Rose's shaft on the ground-embedding it in the earth-and inhaled before she said one, simple word.

"Nope!"

"...Nope?"

"Nope."

"Not even a little?"

"Nope!"

"Nope…"

Ruby smiled, "Nope." She bent down again, looking Ryuko in the eyes, "I don't believe in the slightest that you're weighing anyone or anything down. And it's true, maybe you've had a few unlucky fights here and there...so what! I've been ambushed before I even got to fight, got... _got knocked out when I tried to fight_ -" She groaned as she finished the last of her sentence, before she immediately went back to normal, "-and once got snagged with my cape after screwing up _in_ a fight. I've even lost to my sister at fighting games since we were children. I've been where you've been before...do I look like I've been dragging anyone down?"

Ryuko was looking at her intently-her interest piqued as she listened more and more to Ruby. Ruby reached out and placed her hand on Ryuko's shoulders, "Ryuko, you're one of the most amazing people I've met-next to my uncle, a friend of mine named Pyrrha, and another friend named Penny. You always face your opposition head on without a trace of fear or worry, and you've always come out on top-an occasional hiccup notwithstanding."

Ryuko stared at the girl in front of her as the words resonated in her head. Several times, she had doubted Ruby, thinking that all of the stuff that Ruby said or thought about her was just made to keep her spirits up, regardless of whether she really did believe them. Yet at every single moment like this, where she was doubting herself, Ruby was there to encourage her.

Ryuko couldn't help as her cheeks started turning red. She looked down, too embarrassed to look her in the eye directly. Ruby blinked, but paid little heed as she finished up what she was saying, "You shouldn't feel like you're useless, Ryuko. You're nothing of the sort. If you weren't around, I wouldn't have a clue what to do or where to go or what to do. I'd just be lost in this world with no one to show me back home. Mako wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for you!"

Ryuko's mind took a pause-thinking about what Ruby told her. It was clear that while Ruby _did_ help her multiple times in their previous fights with Honnoji, Ruby likely wouldn't be around to help if they didn't meet in the first place. Ruby would likely be far off on the other side of Japan, not even knowing what was going on...or _worse,_ ending up as one of Satsuki's lackey's. She almost wanted to shudder at the thought of that last one.

Ryuko looked up at Ruby, and saw that she was still smiling. She began to open her mouth to speak, when she heard a rather masculine cough echo from downward. The two of them looked down at Senketsu, who blinked at the two of them with its singular eye. {If I could have a small word in, you are also the one who found me, Ryuko. We wouldn't be able to get this far if not for that moment, wouldn't you think so?}

Ryuko's mind went back to that day. It was one of the most embarrassing days of her life, in all truth. But he was right: this would've ended long ago if she didn't meet the two of them that day.

Ryuko smiled. She felt a sort of fluttering in her chest, like as if someone had taken a light from somewhere and planted it within her. Ruby's smile grew bigger, and she quietly furled Crescent Rose back into it's carry form before taking a seat right next to her.

"Thank you."

"No problem. That's what friends are for...whether their right beside you, or... _or_ far away."

Ryuko looked over at Ruby, and saw that she was looking up towards the stars. The moonlight was lighting up her face, showing a genuine, if saddened expression. Ryuko paused, before she looked up at the stars too, and realized just how _beautiful_ the night sky looked.

" _Wow."_

A cough interrupted her thought, and she heard Ruby speak, "Of course, _if_ you're so upset about losing...you _could_ train with me if you wanted to?"

Ryuko couldn't help but chuckle at the statement. With a smile she responded, "Alright then, I guess I could learn a thing or two more. Who knows, maybe I'll learn a few new things about my scissor blade...or you Senketsu! What do you think about that."

{I think it's a wonderful idea.} The uniform said-it's tone showing a clear approval for her words.

"-Alright! Then it's a deal. You can help me train for future fights, whenever you want to. In return, I-no, we-will help you in finding your way home. Me, Senketsu, the Mankanshoku's. Hell, I'll even rope in that perverted teacher too if I have to! Whaddya say." Ryuko said, holding out her hand to shake.

Ruby laughed, and took her hand with her own as they shook on the promise made. "I'll take that deal... _as long_ as we can start tomorrow. I am **super** tired right now." Ruby said with a hint of humor in her voice.

Ryuko nodded, "First thing tomorrow, then?"

"First thing tomorrow."

The two smiled and got up, heading inside to avoid a sudden cold and to go to bed. As the two of them got into their futons and began to fall asleep, Ryuko went to bed with happy thoughts that she believed were lost long ago. And as she started to doze, she took a particular moment to think on the last thing she remembered from the conversation: the barely visible, but clear aura that emanated from their handshake. It's color a distinct shade of bright crimson.

* * *

He looked back up from the bridge on the outskirts of town to the academy high above.

It had been several hours since his expulsion was officially recognized by the academy. Since then, he had been packing his bags-taking the clothes he had, as well as any smaller things that he needed or wanted.

Most students, when stripped of their status as One-Stars or Two-Stars, were typically moved back to the lowest sections of the city and left to either try and persevere or rot. It wasn't the same case, however, for expelled students, who either needed to evacuate their designated home and leave the city, stay as a beggar in the slums...or face _extreme_ punishments if they tried to keep their place of living.

Kazuya had chosen the former option. For one last moment, he looked up at the very top of the academy and smiled, before he turned and started walking away…

 _I hope you enjoy that spot at the top for as long as you'll have it, Lady Satsuki...Because the show has finally started, and you have a front row seat to the spectacle...The last one you'll ever see from up there…_

Quietly, Kazuya disappeared into the fog and darkness-a darkness so thick that not even the light from the moon above could cut through it. And as the shadows surrounded him, the air throughout Honnoji Academy and the city below it silently began to grow colder with each passing minute…

* * *

 **Crimson Incandescence.**

 **Chapter 9:Flight of Icarus.**

* * *

The truck pulled in quietly, with only the hum of the engine to herald its arrival. Several One-Stars dressed in hazmat suits stood off to the side as the vehicle's backend edged closer to the drop off point before stopping completely. Shiro Iori, Houka Inumuta, and Uzu Sanageyama watched as they inched closer to the back of the truck and placed a platform under the tail end of the vehicle. As they backed away from the platform, the back end of the truck proceeded to expunge a series of containers from inside, which all came to rest on the platform with barely a sound.

Shiro walked up to the approaching driver carrying a clipboard, took the pen offered to him, and signed his name onto the order parchment. With that finished, he stood up straight and turned to address the One-Star worker's, "Right. Take the Life-Fibers to the vault, we'll continue our work from there."

With a salute, every One-Star marched up to the back of the case and pushed it straight into the elevator. Then, following the large case, the two members of the Elite Four present and Iori all stepped in. Inumuta took to a corner, resting himself against the wall, while Sanageyama walked to the very back wall and leaned on the surface-his hands in his pockets. Iori, meanwhile, simply took to the front, pressing a few buttons for the floors to stop at as the doors slid shut behind him.

Sanageyama looked over the top of the case to the inside, where a massive knot of Life-Fibers sat inside. "I wonder what Lady Satsuki is going to do with all of these Life-Fibers?"

"Mass Production of our Goku Uniforms. Did you think they'd be used for something else?" Iori responded.

"No. It's just that whenever _we've_ proposed increasing the number of Two-Star Goku Uniforms for our ranks, she's shot it down."

"That's because prioritizing the quantity of club presidents runs the risk of lowering the quality. Lady Satsuki was always worried about that kind of problem."

Sanageyama nodded in understanding just as Inumuta cut in, "Regardless, she's decided that increasing the number of club presidents be effective immediately. My understanding would be that the arrival of Ryuko Matoi and Ruby Rose have pushed Lady Satsuki's plans up further than anticipated."

"Yeah-" Sanageyama said, "-Even that Anti-Uniform Guerilla fighter showed up a day or two ago, right?"

Iori started first, "Correct, and to take things even further, Lady Satsuki herself has donned a Goku Uniform."

"There are two people that can wear a Goku Uniform made from a hundred percent Life-Fibers and work without any problems. I personally find it hard to believe."

With a raised eyebrow, Sanageyama turned his head to Inumuta in surprise, "Oh! So even Information Chair Inumuta can find something he doesn't believe in? I would've thought little Red Riding Hood would do that for you?"

Inumuta sighed, "Indeed she has. The girl can move at speeds that would only be possible for high-end cars or fighter jets. She uses a weapon with no real apparent ability to combat Life-Fibers, yet can do just that with no problem- _not to mention having a_ _ **gun**_ _built into the damn thing._ And, to rub salt into the wounds, she's dressed like a character from a fairy tale everywhere she goes…" He shrugged, expounding his exasperation, "It's all just one unbelievable thing after another around here...that's why Honnoji Academy's so interesting."

"...I see-" Sanageyama grinned and his brow furrowed as he felt a fire light up inside, "Personally, I'm here because I was told I could cut loose...and both that Matoi and Red Riding Hood are worthy of my full attention."

The elevator lurched to a stop almost instantly, and the doors slid open smoothly. With a grin still on his face, Sanageyama sauntered for the exit. Inumuta looked after him and narrowed his eyes in his direction, "Sanageyama...Have you forgotten that Lady Satsuki's order were for the Elite Four to wait and watch?"

"Oh, she really said that? Well then…" Sanageyama said-his tone of voice etched with mild sarcasm-before the doors closed behind him. Taking the time to smell the air, Sanageyama turned and began to walk towards his new destination: Lady Satsuki's mansion…

* * *

 **The Next Morning...**

* * *

The roar that echoed up from the bottom of the front stairway to Honnoji made a few heads turn as they looked down to see what all the commotion was about...and then promptly started rushing themselves back up the stairs as what seemed like a fight between Ryuko Matoi and Ruby Rose slowly made it's way to the front gate.

Ryuko charged, yelling at the top of her lungs as she took a swing at Ruby, only to miss easily as the girl dodged and stepped a foot away from her. Undeterred, Ryuko pushed herself up into the air, sending another swing towards her with a spin. Ruby, with a rather content smile on her face, simply ducked under the blade and took a few more steps back-further up towards the gate to Honnoji.

Ruby looked at Ryuko-her silver eyes alight with more levity than usual. Her hands rested calmly at her sides as she moved and weaved through each attack that Ryuko used. A simple swing was met with a slight shift in the angle of her body, while a jab toward her head was responded with simple cock of the head.

This went on for a fair length of time longer, before Ryuko caught Ruby off guard. _Not_ by attacking with her scissor blade, but by grabbing her by the wrist. Blinking in surprise, Ruby smirked-impressed-before she looked up to see Ryuko raising her scissor blade above her head. With a quick motion, Ruby simply sidestepped the blade as it came down over her head, before she used the blade as a way to step up higher and onto Ryuko's shoulder. Confused at the action, Ryuko didn't figure it out until she found her arm wrap itself around her neck and some pain began to spasm out from her wrist. Distracted, she lost her footing and spun around on the stair, letting go of Ruby as the girl jumped away.

With Ruby landing no more than a few feet away, and her own self falling down dizzily, Ryuko tossed her scissor blade straight towards the girl. Turning around just in time to see the weapon spinning straight at her, Ruby jumped to the other side of the stairway. With a quick shake of her head, Ryuko leaped toward her scissor blade, then at Ruby as she swung the weapon at her, which was dodged easily once again. Ruby moved further away from her, causing Ryuko to give chase.

Ruby's feet planted themselves onto the final step before the gate and looked at Ryuko as she charged at her and, with one final roar, swinged her scissor blade at Ruby diagonally. The blade cut through the air, inching closer to Ruby...before she disappeared in a cloud of rose petals. Ryuko couldn't tell what was going on then, until she looked above herself just enough to see the imprint of her boots flying over her head. Then, with only a small, notable feeling against her head, she felt Ruby springboard off of her while Ryuko went forward, rolling on the ground. Ryuko's body flailed as she was flung forward, until she was finally stopped by a wooden post in her way-knocking her head against the pole as she stopped.

With a gasp of air, Ryuko rubbed the back of her head with grit teeth while Senketsu took time to shake off the dirt that was covering his front. With a few blinks of his single eye, he looked up, {If this is how training is going to be every time, then I wonder if it's even worth the trouble…}

"Me too-" Ryuko said, "-Though, if I'm not mistaken, this is just for her to get a real handle on my skills out of Life-Fiber Synchronization...right?" Ryuko looked up towards the red cloaked girl as she walked up the stairs once more and straight towards her.

Ruby's smile was still spread across her lips as she walked over, "Yep! While it's almost certain you won't fight _out_ of your transformed state, you're still far more powered up in that state than with what your body can accomplish naturally. So to start with training, I have to figure out what you can do, and how you fight without it in a basic format. _Then_ we get to the same thing with your transformed state before we finally get to proper training. Do you understand now, Senketsu?"

{Basically, this is an introductory test to the real training. I see now.}

Ruby reached out a hand to help Ryuko up, "Sorry. We haven't even gotten to the basics of Aura, so I'm guessing that last move kinda hurt, didn't it?"

Ryuko smirked, "Please, I got beaten senseless when I first arrived here. A simple smack against the head won't do jack against me here."

The two of them chuckled as Ruby pulled Ryuko up onto her feet and helped to dust her off. With a smile, the two fistbumped before Ruby tilted her body to the side and looked past Ryuko towards the wooden post. It stood behind Ryuko with a massive sign at the top, "Speaking of which, when did that get here? I don't remember any signs being placed down yesterday…"

Ryuko scoffed, "-It's probably some kind of new law or order that Kiryuin wants everyone to follow _to the letter_ -" She said in a mocking tone, raising two fingers in each hand and making a quotation motion, "-Why don't we see if this stump can make for great...firewood?"

Ryuko paused in silence, trailing off as she read the sign with inaudible mutters. Ruby watched, unnerved, before Ryuko's eyes narrowed and she turned to walk off towards the college, "Finally…"

"Ryuko?" Ruby asked, before her eyes turned to look at the sign as well. What she read on there made her stomach flip…

" **CHALLENGE TO A DUEL! Ryuko Matoi of Second Year Class K. I will be waiting in the Kendo club dojo after school."**

" **-Sanageyama."**

Sanageyama...as in _Uzu Sanageyama_ , one of the Elite Four. Ruby stared at the sign with her jaw slack-her eyes wide at the realization of just _who_ called for a duel. She turned around to look at Ryuko, and saw that she was already halfway across the courtyard.

"Ryuko, wait!" She called out to her, as she rushed to catch up with her-a distinct feeling of wariness flooding her mind...

* * *

The long hours of waiting had attracted quite a crowd to the dojo. Multitudes of students from all grades and levels-be they No-Stars or Two-Stars-all crowded into the main court to watch what was sure to be a major spectacle…

Among the crowd, Mako Mankanshoku jumped and popped out from the crowd in multiple places, looking in awe at the sole member of the Elite Four standing alone in the middle of the room. Off in the very back, Aikurou Mikisugi looked on in the full disguise he always wore to school-watching with an expression of pure boredom, and retreading the very thoughts of his mind with the exact opposite. And in a massive balcony above, where they could watch on without any interruptions, were the remaining members of the Elite Four: Ira Gamagoori, Houka Inumuta, and Nonon Jakuzure.

Jakuzure was laying down on a rather luxurious seat adorned with various animal plushes and candies-her head resting on one hand as she watched with a very irate look. Gamagoori and Inumuta, meanwhile, flanked the girl at both sides of what could only be considered a _very_ extravagant couch with their arms crossed.

A barely heard growl escaped Jakuzure as she sullenly began to speak, "The monkey beat us to the punch...If I had gotten permission from Satsuki to move on either of them, I would've taken her out first!"

Jakuzure looked down as her thoughts went back to the announcement earlier today, and immediately she felt an instantaneous desire to bash her head against a wall for a few minutes. From that little moment, she also wondered why-if Sanageyama could at least take on-and excusing her own french here for a moment-the scissor-bitch, then why not the fairy tale wannabe that often flanked her? Both were clearly a threat to her-with the former actively attacking their forces, and the latter either jumping in after it becomes too much for Matoi or countering anyone sent after her. Yet it was stated that Sanageyama could fight Matoi and Matoi _only._ There was to be no one touching Ruby Rose in the slightest!

She could almost cook it up to a sort of special plan that Satsuki had in mind, but she hadn't heard anything from her about such a thing...which increasingly made her believe in a distinct possibility: Satsuki is _scared_ of Ruby Rose.

 _Just how would that be possible...Satsuki doesn't fear anyone. How could one girl make Satsuki afraid?_

As Jakuzure's thoughts trailed on, thinking about the many possibilities for what was going on, Inumuta looked over toward Gamagoori, "Where's Lady Satsuki?"

Gamagoori raised his head, "She's opted out of this one-says this battle isn't worth watching."

Jakuzure paused for a moment, before the realization of what Gamagoori said finally hit her. She looked up at him, "What's that supposed to mean!?"

Before any of them could say anything more. The crowd started to part, and the Elite Four's attention immediately turned, "They're here…"

* * *

"So you've come, Matoi."

The voice of Sanageyama echoed throughout the room as the crowd parted for the two of them. Ruby stopped at Ryuko's side and looked forward, with Sanageyama standing alone at the center of the room. Looking up, she could see a large balcony-nearly empty, if not for the three figures sitting alone and watching from above. With a slight gulp she looked over at Ryuko-whose smile was much, _much_ bigger than usual…

"I was called out by name from one of the Elite Four, how in the hell could I run away from a golden opportunity like that...isn't that right Sat...suki?" She looked up, then looked around to see where the queen bee was.

Ruby sighed as she looked over at Ryuko, "She's not here...it's likely she doesn't have time for it today."

"Well damn, and here I thought we were going to have a big audience today…"

Sanageyama smirked, "I wouldn't fret, Matoi-you already have an audience right here. The No-Stars all the way to the Three-Stars!" He pointed up toward the balcony, where the other three members of the Elite Four were sitting, "-Isn't that enough of an audience, Ryuko Matoi!?"

Ryuko glanced around at the people surrounding them. There were hundreds of people here today, ready to watch either Sanageyama or herself get beaten down. She smiled as she pulled her scissor blade out from the pouch around her waist, "Well, when you put it that way. I guess this crowd will be enough to see me **kick your ass!** "

Sanageyama watched as the scissor blade grew to it's normal size. With a toothy grin he let out a soft chuckle before he spoke up, "I like your spirit... **So let's pass on the pleasantries and get right to it!"**

Three flashes from the neck of his coat caught Ruby's attention, and she could barely make note of the three stars stitched into the fabric before a bright flash of green light caused nearly everyone in the room-save Ryuko and the rest of the Elite Four-to cover their eyes. When the light finally died down and everyone could have a good look at Sanageyama, nearly everyone's jaw dropped at the sight.

Ruby blinked in confusion as she looked at him. The first thing she noticed was that he was _gigantic_ -a lot like Gamagoori's average size on a good day. His entire body was covered in heavy armor strong enough to withstand a blast from a cannon or, in her own experience, a punch from her own raging sister. On his back were two large, rotary packs sticking out of each shoulder that seemed built to fire _some_ form of ammunition. And at the head sat a uniquely shaped helm reaching out from both sides of his head and far upward, while his face hid behind a faceguard with multiple holes to see through. Ruby nearly fell foward at the sight of it, and could only mutter one thing from under her breath, " _It's...like a Kamui?"_

"Yes…" Sanageyama's voice was muffled by the suit, but still perfectly audible enough to hear, "...It's not just your Kamui or weapons that can transform!"

A massive grin spread out over Ryuko's face as she saw the massive suit of armor in front of her, "I'm impressed! I guess I'll do the same then…" Ryuko brought her gloved arm up and started reaching for the pin attached to it, when another hand grabbed her wrist and stopped her. Ryuko looked over at Ruby, who held her wrist to stop her, and noticed that her expression was far more worried, "Ruby?"

Sanageyama inched forward slightly, "Ruby Rose. I am not to fight you under order from Lady Satsuki. However, I also demand that you do not interfere with this duel...or someone may have to remove you from the premises," Sanageyama said. And as he finished his sentence, the overwhelming presence of Gamagoori started radiating from above.

Both Ruby and Ryuko turned their heads to Sanageyama as they retracted what they just heard. Satsuki ordered Sanageyama to fight Ryuko, but not Ruby? Why was that the case?

Ruby, pausing to retrace herself, raised a hand up and grinned meekly, "Sorry! Can me and Ryuko just have a minute before you start?" Sanageyama stared at them for awhile, before he sighed and relented.

Ruby turned to Ryuko, who looked at her confused, " _Ruby? Do you know about this?"_

" _No, and that's not what we should be focusing on right now. What we should be worried about is Sanageyama over there-"_ She pointed toward Sanageyama, " _-Aren't you a little bit worried about how this might go down?"_

" _Not really...I'll just keep going until I finally beat him."_

" _I don't think that's a good idea, Ryuko. You don't even know what he's capable of."_

" _I don't need to, I'll power through his sorry ass and knock him out cold…"_

{Ryuko, I'm gonna have to agree with Ruby on this one. We'll likely get ourselves killed if we throw caution to the wind…} Senketsu spoke up, his singular eye looking up at his wearer with a wary stare.

Ryuko contemplated the situation. It's true that she didn't know anything about _any_ of the Elite Four or how they fought. It was clear to her that just charging in and taking him head-on was probably the stupidest move she could pull. But at the same time she couldn't help but have this intense desire to finish this as fast as possible, get one obstacle in her way, and move on to the main course. Was that really so bad to have?

With a sigh she looked Ruby directly in the eyes, " _Then what kind of idea do you have in mind?"_

Ruby scratched the back of her head, glancing at Sanageyama as he stood a few feet away, before returning to her, " _At least play it cautiously...take the first few moments slow and try to find an opening...or, at least, keep the 'finding an opening' your top priority. Anything that you can find and exploit: use it. Alright?"_

Ryuko nodded her head, and Ruby stepped back to let Ryuko do her thing, "Now, where were we?" She pulled on the pin of her Seki Tekko and immediately became bathed in red light. And as she reemerged from it, a familiar phrase flooded the room immediately…

 _ **Life Fiber Synchronize: Kamui Senketsu!**_

...The light died away, and the room was once more filled with raucous swooning as the student body looked upon Ryuko's transformed state. Ruby stepped at the edge of the crowd with a soft groan as she heard the voices of hundreds. She had almost forgotten that Senketsu transformed into... _that_ instead of a normal, cool looking kind of battlegear. _Well, it's cool...but, seriously, does it really have to show that much skin?_

With a deep breath she tried to focus on the duel as best as possible without getting embarrassed. Before she could, though, she heard a familiar face echoing out through the crowd and looked around to see Mako Mankanshoku approaching her,

"Mako! You're finally back up and at em' huh?" She said with a smile. Mako turned to her with an absolutely ecstatic expression.

" **Ruby!** Did you know that Ryuko's been called out to a duel by one of the Elite Four!? This is insane! I only just figured this out earlier after being out sick for the last few days!"

"Yeah, I know. I was there."

"You were!? I was really out of it so I didn't know anything major was going down today until I arrived earlier today! I thought for a moment that you and Ryuko were part of my imaginary friends, so I went to school before you two! But then I realized after I asked a One-Star if you actually existed and told me so!"

"Yeah...that sounds like you're alright!"

"Uh-huh! So I found the sign at the front of the gate and came here, where I've been waiting for Ryuko to fight an Elite Four! Speaking of which, where is Ryuko? You two are usually always together…"

Ruby chuckled as she walked up to Mako and turned her head towards the center of the room. With Ryuko front and center, Mako smiled and cheered out to her, "Ah! **Ryuko! There you are! Go and beat him at his own game! You can do it-definitely!** "

Ruby sighed, "Yep...classic Mako."

* * *

The staredown between them left the entire room in silence. With each student in the room-from poverty stricken No Stars to the right hand Three-Stars above-watching intently, waiting for the first move to be made. Ruby and Mako watched with entirely opposite looks in their eyes as they held their breath. Mako's was filled with the uncompromising kindness and optimism she always had. Ruby's eyes, however, had fear and worry plaguing them incessantly.

The smallest sounds were deafening. The whispers of the occasional student heard from all across the room. But no one moved from where they stood...all of them had their eyes on the scene: awaiting what would happen.

When it began, no one surrounding the fight could see it happen, beyond the Elite Four and Ruby. Ryuko charged, pushing off from the floor, launching herself forward so fast that Ruby herself was caught off guard with her speed. In a millisecond Ryuko was likely a foot away from Sanageyama when she forcefully brought her scissor blade down in a vertical motion, cutting Sanageyama in half…

...At least, that's what it _looked_ like. Until Sanageyama's form split in half and dissipated right in front of Ryuko-a look of disbelief on her face as her opponent appeared right behind her. Ruby looked on wide eyed as she realized that Sanageyama could move _fast_ -bulky armor regardless.

Skidding to a stop, Ryuko turned around, just in time to react fast and bring her scissor blade up to block her side as Sanageyama took a swat at her with a large shinai, sending her flying right towards Mako and Ruby in the crowds. Thinking fast, Ruby turned, grabbed Mako, and blasted the two of them out of the way. With neither of her friends in her way, Ryuko slammed into the crowd, which immediately went flying in multiple directions from the impact.

Ruby didn't know where to fly to, and simply decided that "upward" was a perfect enough choice. Trying to stop her flight, she reached out to grab something that could stop her, and managed to yank onto something: Ira Gamagoori's outstretched arm.

Both Mako and Ruby looked at him in surprise, " **Gamagoori?"**

" _ **Disciplinary Committee Chair**_ _Ira Gamagoori_." He responded with both bombast and composure. Ruby stared in shock, wondering if she should let go and drop back into the crowd with Mako. Until Gamagoori pulled the both of them into the balcony and dropped them into a row of seats...right between him, Inumuta, and Jakuzure.

Still in shock, Ruby repeatedly shifted between the three of them as Inumuta greeted the two of them, "Hello Miss Rose. Mankanshoku. You officially have some of the best seats in the house now."

"Huh!?" Ruby uttered, dumbfounded, "B-B-But aren't you guys the highest order in the school? Shouldn't you be kicking us out of here to have it for yourselves!?"

Gamagoori scoffed at the notion, "These balconies are free for anyone to use. They simply choose not to because they both rightfully fear us and because we do so before them.

"That, and the lack of our Lady Satsuki works in your favor... _unfortunately._ " Jakuzure finished-her eyes rolling as the last word was spoken with a tinge of malice in it. Ruby glanced down at her, then both at Gamagoori and Inumuta, who were instead focusing on the match below instead of her. With a gulp of air, Ruby swallowed in her dread and looked back down at the duel as it continued.

Dragging her scissor blade against the wood floor, Ryuko walked out from the mess of a crowd that stood or lay around her with grit teeth. Her eyes focused on Sanageyama, she strafed to the left and leapt upward with a yell as she aimed to bring her blade down on him. As it was about to hit him, however, his entire upper half dodged to the left...then to the right as she took another swing...then a quick duck, another right, a left!

Then Ryuko felt the air leave her lungs, as she saw the butt end of a massive shinai smash into her abdomen. Gasping for breath, she slammed her foot down to gain traction and stopped herself just in time to have another shinai barreling at her. With a quick dodge, she was barely grazed before _another_ one was aimed straight towards her head, and with a reflexive raise of her blade, she managed to half-assedly block it in time. Unfortunately, she also flew back, disorientated from the blow-just enough for Sanageyama to capitalize on.

He took aim with his arm, planning to shoot Ryuko...and immediately lowered it down to her feet. With a quick smash from the shinai, the ground underneath her blew upward, causing her to flip up into the air just a foot from the attack. With her senses completely thrown for a loop, Ryuko could only react by raising her arm up before she was smacked against a shinai and sent flying backwards.

Rolling to a stop as she landed onto the floor, Ryuko quickly got up as fast as she could, trying to keep up with everything that was going on in front of her. As she raised her head up, she instinctively moved to the side-just as another shinai flew right by her side. Her thoughts working on overdrive, she immediately started to swing her scissor blade...and slashed right into another of the larger shinai, stopping halfway through it as it split in half.

Her eyes widening in surprise at her handiwork, Ryuko looked back at Sanageyama-who stood a fair distance away-with a sly grin as she pushed her blade through the rest of the shinai and began to bring it back around for a counterattack...only to be smashed in the face with a shinai.

Flying backwards, she slammed into the wall behind her with another gasp before she started to fall to the ground...before Sanageyama fired another one right into her face and plastered her against the wall.

Grabbing the end of the shinai that pressed her face into the wall, Ryuko glared at Sanageyama as he looked at her with narrowed eyes, " **I can see all your moves!** " Then, with his other arm, he pulled out another one and swinged into her side, before spinning around and shooting her to the other end of the room. With a crack, she smashed into the wall-concrete wall flying outward before it sputtered to the ground or bonked a few students on the head.

" **RYUKO!?"** Both Ruby and Mako called out, their eyes growing wide with worry. Meanwhile, on their side, Gamagoori looked at the place where Ryuko smashed into with a stern look of anger, before he turned to Sanageyama…

" **Your mission is taking out Matoi, NOT DESTROYING SCHOOL PROPERTY-SANAGEYAMA!"**

Sanageyama looked up and retorted back, " **WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING, JACKASS! WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU EVEN ON HERE!"**

" **LADY SATSUKI, YOU INGRATE!"**

" **OH, OF COu-** of course you are. Why am I even asking-"

Just as Sanageyama finished his sentence, he reacted with ease as Ryuko suddenly flew out from the dust and smashed into him with her scissor blade. With a single block of the attack, he sent her flying, only to land a few feet away from him before she motioned to move to his side...and immediately disappeared in a blur of speed. Ruby and Mako looked on from the balcony with their jaws slack, before Mako grinned vividly and turned to Ruby, "RUBY! LOOK! SHE'S DOING WHAT YOU DO!"

Ruby looked on in surprise-noticing earlier when Ryuko's lips had spoken. Despite her inability to lip read, she could immediately guess that she was telling Senketsu to move faster than normal. Regardless, Ruby looked on, impressed, with a smile on her face…

...A smile which slowly disappeared in the following moments. As Ryuko moved throughout the room-jumping through the ceiling and appearing in various areas of the court. She moved once more, skidded to a stop, and immediately felt a presence behind her. Unable to react, she immediately felt something bash into her head _hard_. Yelping in pain, Ryuko rolled forward, before raising her scissor blade up forward with grit teeth as Sanageyama appeared in front of her and laughed heartily, "No matter how fast you can move, **you can't escape my sight! BEHOLD-"**

Sanageyama's eyes went wide and he grinned maliciously under his faceguard, before he called outward, " **Secret Weapon: HIGH TENGANTSU!"** Within seconds, his eyes started moving rapidly, looking _everywhere_ , before several flaps opened around his armor. Several lights began to flash from within-following the exact same, rapid motion that his own eyes were doing. Sanageyama grinned maliciously, " **As long as I have these eyes, I can figure out the next movement my opponent makes before they even act!"**

Both Ryuko and Ruby up above looked on with their jaws slack, " **What!?"**

"How is that possible!?" Ruby called out, her eyes wide with disbelief. Flinching at the sound of her voice, Jakuzure turned her head upward and glared at the girl for making her ears ring. Inumuta, meanwhile, cleared his throat and began to explain, "With every motion a human's body makes, there is a preparatory motion makes. They can be from the eyes, the muscles, or other sources. Sanageyama reads those preparatory motions, takes them all into account, and preempts himself to react for any move his opponent makes. _That_ is the Tengantsu, which his Goku Uniform amplifies to incredible levels."

"Meaning Sanageyama can see everything around him without a single problem?" Jakuzure said, "My, Mr. Wild Monkey's managed to learn some new tricks. Isn't that right, Red Riding Hood?" Jakuzure finished the sentence with a tone of mockery towards Ruby, before pushing the end of her baton into Mako's cheek with a smug grin on her face.

Ruby looked down, saw what Jakuzure was doing, and-with a disapproving glare toward the girl-swatted the baton away from Mako's face. Jakuzure blinked in confusion at what happened, before she looked toward Ruby with a spiteful expression of her own. The two continued to stare afterwards, with Ruby's look pretty much saying exactly what she was thinking, " _I don't care if you're a member of the Elite Four. Be nice, or you'll be the next one down there for a fight."_

Gamagoori cleared his throat, grabbing everyone's attention, "Is that what Lady Satsuki meant when she said this fight was not worth watching? But-"

"That's not how I heard it at all." Inumuta responded, his voice as monotone as ever. Gamagoori sighed, before he returned to watching the bout with a stern frown. Jakuzure herself glanced back at Inumuta, before returning to the fight below-trying her best to ignore the two underachievers lingering just above her seat. Ruby, however, turned back to the three of them each as a thought entered her mind…

"Well, umm...I'm sure that my input probably amounts to nothing here-"

"-Obviously." Jakuzure said, deadpan.

Ruby ignored her and continued, "-But, you-Inumuta?-you said that Sanageyama needs to see the attack by 'seeing' it's preparatory- _it is preparatory, right?-_ preparatory motion first?"

"Indeed." Inumuta said.

"So then...wouldn't you just have to blind him in order to win?"

...For a moment, the balcony was silent-everyone remaining the same as they were throughout the fight. Then, as the realization dawned on them the three remaining Elite Four reacted appropriately-with Jakuzure pulling the sucker out from her slackened mouth, Gamagoori raising his brow as he looked at Ruby impressed, and Inumuta facepalming as he muttered uncharacteristically under his breath, " _Ah fuck."_

Back down below, Ryuko was doing her best to block each and every attack thrown her way. Senketsu looked over at Ryuko with concern in his voice, {Keep it together, Ryuko.}

"I'm trying, but it's not easy deflecting all these strikes." Ryuko said through grit teeth, before she finally found an opening and attacked...only for her opponent to jump backwards and reach up towards his back…

"Not bad-" Sanageyama said, as his fingers each went into a single hole of the two packs sitting on each side of his back, "But let's see **how you handle this!** " He pulled out his hands, revealing several shinai attached to each of his fingers. Then, closing together his fingers, he slammed them together...just as his hand began to twist and spin like a drill. Sanageyama's head flinched upward before he charged Ryuko with a yell, " **SHINSOKU-SENBONZUKI!"**

As fast as Ryuko could react, she moved to block the incoming attack, only to feel something hit her shoulder _hard_. Then it struck her stomach, then her face, then her left leg, her arm, her face, her chest, her stomach again, her...everywhere. She was being hit everywhere, and she couldn't respond-couldn't block, or dodge, or parry and counter. She couldn't do anything except take each and every attack as they slammed into her.

Sanageyama called outward, " **I've read all of your moves to block now! Even with your Scissor Blade-a weapon made to slice through a Goku Uniform like it was paper-is useless if it can't HIT IT'S TARGET!"**

" **RYUKO!"** Mako and Ruby called out, just as the barrage of attacks finally stopped and Ryuko fell backwards, heaving out air from her lungs. Sanageyama looked down at the crumpled body of his opponent and smiled, "Hey, hey! Is it over already? I expected more…"

Ryuko groaned, muttering a near silent curse under her breath as she began to push herself upward. Every part of her was beginning to feel sore and painful, to the point that she really was finding it hard to even stand up properly. With a large gasp, she pushed herself upward and looked up at Sanageyama with an irate glare as she noticed his grin from under his faceguard, "That's more like it! Wouldn't want you to stop when it's just getting interesting…"

Ryuko stared at him as she took a moment to catch her breath, before she glanced down at her Kamui, " _Senketsu...I have a request for you that I'd like you to hear about…"_ She whispered, before she told him her proposition as quietly as possible. Ruby looked down at this fight, noticing Senketsu's eye react to everything Ryuko said, before it looked off-apparently in agreement with her as they raised up their scissor blade.

Sanageyama looked on, sneering sinisterly, before he raised his arms up towards the scaffolding above. His fingers clamped together, and his hand began to spin again, " **Time to end this."**

He lunged forward, throwing both of his arms forward as he aimed to attack Ryuko. Ryuko stood still, holding her scissor blade forward as the attack barreled down toward her. However, just as the attack was close to hitting her, she shifted the angle of the blade and pushed it forward, making it connect with the shinai drill...and then immediately causing it to fly straight out of her grip. The scissor blade flew backward, straight towards Ryuko's head, who inched to the side just well enough that it missed her head...and cut through a small part of Senketsu.

Everyone looked on dumbstruck as they saw what happened. The Elite Four watched on with their eyes wide, as a realization came to them. Meanwhile, Ruby and Mako reacted in panic as they both jumped forward, yelling out their friend's name as she began to fall backwards. Sanageyama, however, moved forward, hoping to capitalize on the opening that he could see as clear as day. What he failed to take a real note of, however, was the small smirk on Ryuko's face as he fell right into her trap…

The piece that was cut off from Senketsu dispersed, turning into several small pieces of cloth that instantly started flying toward Sanageyama's faceguard. The green haired member of the Elite Four could only watch in shock as he failed to react in time, causing his vision to become veiled by Senketsu's remains and rendering him incapable of seeing.

Sanageyama pulled back, reaching up to scratch off the cloth from his faceguard, only to realize that his shinai were still attached to his fingers. Struggling to get them off, he removed the shinai from his fingers and began to scratch at the guard even more, only to find out that he couldn't get them off like this, "I-I can't get them off! My eyes!"

Ryuko grit her teeth, " **Now!"** before she began to extend her scissor blade out into it's extended decapitator mode. She leaped up-her eyes focused directly on Sanageyama-and roared, " **Time to end you-**

 **{Finishing Move: Sen-I-Soshitsu!}**

Sanageyama practically exploded. His Goku Uniform blew up and dissipated in a bright flash of light before he was soon flying in the air, completely naked. As he began to fall to the ground, several small red fibers instantly floated toward Ryuko and slowly absorbed themselves into Senketsu's form as Ryuko looked on at the crowd around her with a stern, serious face.

As everyone watched in awe at the sight, the remaining members of the Elite Four looked down with disapproving looks on their faces. Jakuzure sighed, "Lookie, lookie, he blew it and lost-"

"It seems that this is what Lady Satsuki meant." Inumuta said, before he glanced to his side. Ruby and Mako looked down at the court with massive grins on their faces, before Ruby grabbed Mako and stepped onto the back of Jakuzure's seat and immediately shot herself forward-jumping out of the balcony and onto the ground below. Unable to keep their excitement, the two of them called out to Ryuko, who turned and looked at them with a small grin on her face.

Mako spoke up first, "You did it Ryuko! You beat one of the Elite Four already! You're amazing! And fast-and awesome! So AWESOME! YEAH!"

Ruby approached her, absolutely ecstatic, "That was completely crazy! Did you read my mind or something! That blinding trick was the best thing I've ever seen!"

Ryuko began to grin, when-

" **MATOI!"**

-The voice of her opponent called her, and she turned to face a still naked and bruised Sanageyama, wielding another shinai. He was gritting his teeth, and his eyes were absolutely wild with emotion, " **This isn't over yet! I can still fight you, so come on-MATOI!"** He declared, pointing his shinai at Ryuko.

Ryuko blinked with a raised eyebrow, _Are you serious? I mean...I'm happy to oblige another brutal beatdown on you, but-_

Before she could finish her thought however, a series of thorny whips shot out from above and, with a frightening callousness, began smacking themselves all over the back of Sanageyama's backside. The green haired fellow gasped, before he began to fall onto his knees, dropping his shinai as he descended. Ryuko and Ruby looked on in varying levels of shock-Ryuko holding mild surprise, while Ruby watched on in horror with her jaw dropped. Then, as they began to wonder what was going on, the thunderous voice of Ira Gamagoori resounded from the upper balcony.

" **HOW DARE YOU BE PATHETIC, SANAGEYAMA!"** Gamagoori roared out, his whip hanging out from his sleeve, " **YOU HAVE DISGRACED THE ELITE FOUR! DO NOT HUMILIATE YOURSELF FURTHER!"**

The entire building went silent, save for what seemed to be the sound of crying from Sanageyama. Ruby looked up at the upper balcony, seeing the face of Gamagoori, and immediately feeling a pang of anger. Was this really how Honnoji treats their people with failure!?

Ruby began to take a step forward, when she felt someone grab her arm. She turned to Ryuko-her expression rather neutral on the situation-and saw her shake her head. Ruby looked at her, before her brow began to furrow as she understood exactly what Ryuko was saying: _Leave it be. We'll get him later._

For a minute, everyone simply stood around, keeping their eyes glued to the center of the room. Then, with a disappointed sigh, Gamagoori told everyone from up above that they were free to go, and the many students who had come to watch the fight began to leave one by one. Soon afterward, the remainder of the Elite Four-save Gamagoori-went off to do their everyday activities, not even paying any heed to their former comrade as they left. Ryuko and Mako watched everyone else leave, before they decided that it was time to head off as well and made for the exit. As they neared the door, Ryuko turned and glanced back at the court-only seeing Ruby and Sanageyama remain, before she grimaced and exited.

Ruby stared up at Gamagoori, who took notice of her and began to stare back-his eyes saying to her, _This is the rule of Honnoji Academy. I will not apologize for my rightful actions._

Ruby's brow furled, before she turned and stared at Sanageyama. He didn't seem to be crying anymore, but his frame was still on it's knees-staring at the ground as he stayed there. With a gulp of air, Ruby approached him reluctantly, "Umm...Sanageyama. A-Are you gonna be alright? I Could...I could get you some help if you-"

"I'm fine. Now leave me." His tone was rather curt, and almost entirely inaudible.

Ruby held out a hand to him, "A-Are you sure. I'm offering to hel-"

She was immediately interrupted by Sanageyama holding his shinai straight to her face. He didn't look at her, but simply responded-his voice even more angry than before, " _I'm fine._ _ **Leave. Me. Now.**_ "

Ruby paused, stared at him, and with some reluctance began to back away from him. She held her eyes to him for a little while longer before she finally turned to the door and disappeared in a red blur of rose petals. Now, all that was left was Sanageyama-still kneeling at the center of the room, and completely unresponsive to the world around him.

* * *

The walk to the Mankanshoku's was eerily quiet for once. Mako had run off ahead so that she could have an early snack before dinner, leaving only Ryuko and Ruby to make their way home. Ryuko herself didn't have much of a problem with that...it was Ruby's sudden depression that made her worry. With a small amount of reluctance, Ryuko tried to break the silence-looking directly at her friend, "Ruby...is something wrong?"

Ruby paused in-step, causing Ryuko to stop in her own tracks as well. As she looked at Ruby, she began to see her brow was low, and her lips were shaped into a rather sad frown. She looked up at Ryuko, her eyes filled with a minor amount of sadness, "Ryuko...how can someone treat their own friends and allies like that?"

"Huh?"

"When Gamagoori attacked Sanageyama and chastised him for being humiliating to them. How can someone do that and _not_ feel horrible for their actions?"

Ryuko stared at her, "That's...That's a good question."

She began to shake the back of her head nervously. Most of the time she never really gave a damn about those people she faced, but now that she thought about it more clearly, it did make her feel somewhat bad for those she fought. She looked back again at Ruby, who had turned her head to look off into the sunset.

She couldn't help but stare at her as she stood in the sunlight. Ryuko had never really taken much notice of this before, but now that she got a good look, she realized something: Ruby was probably the most compassionate person she had ever met. Her father barely had anything to do with her life, and her mother was nowhere to be seen to begin with. Most of the people she had to deal with on a daily basis were delinquents or idiots of some kind, and not once did any of them treat her respectfully. Ruby was different...she was probably the first person she had ever met who actually gave a care in the world. It didn't matter who or what it was, be it an enemy or her friends. Just that she was fully willing to help others, regardless of whatever they did…

Ryuko sighed, "Ruby…"

She turned to look at her. Ryuko looked directly into her eyes and put on the best smile she could muster, "We're friends, right?" she said to Ruby. The girl blinked and stared at her, before answering with a nod.

Ryuko smiled, "...Then you have my word. I will never do anything that will hurt you. Mako won't do anything, the rest of the Mankanshoku's won't do anything to you. You can believe in us...just remember that, alright?"

Ruby looked at her with slightly wide eyes. Then, slowly, a smile spread across her lips, and her eyes went alight as she began to understand exactly what Ryuko meant, "A-Alright then...Thank you, Ryuko."

"...Don't mention it." She said with a smile. Quietly, they began to walk back down to the Mankanshoku's once more-their spirits brightened up significantly for the day. With a quick stretch of her arms, Ryuko looked over at Ruby as a question began to burn right through her, "While I still have a chance to ask, are we gonna continue training tonight?"

"We'll see. I'm still slightly tired from staying up last night…"

"Alright then. How about stopping for a bite to eat? We could get a snack-you get strawberries, I'll have a lemon or two?"

"That sounds nice! I still kinda want some croquettes from Sukuyo later, though."

The two continued on their way, holding a conversation with one another as they finally made their way to the Mankanshoku household-the one place that they could call a home in this crazy, crazy world…

* * *

 _...So, the monkey's been devoured like the rest of the fodder, has he?_

 _...Indeed, This'll be interesting to see as it progresses. How will the monkey return to the playing field? Will the two little heroines push this advantage while they still have the chance? I can't wait to see what unfolds._

 _Yes, she won't be leaving for now. The plan still moves forward: The girl is implanted within this universe, and the dominos consequently fall. She'll remain...I mean, it's not like I'm gonna pull her out while the going is still good...after all, I'm the one that brought her here...and I'm not gonna leave a show as good as this one so, so early._

 _What happens next? It's simple: Just sit back and enjoy the show...things will work themselves out from there. That, I am sure of…_

* * *

Title Reference: Flight of Icarus by Iron Maiden

...Hiiiaaaaaahhhhhh **hhhhhhhhhh...ooooooorrrrrrrrrreeeEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH….FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCK!**

 ***ahem* PLEASE ACCEPT MY MOST SINCERE AND SAD APOLOGIES! GODDAMMIT, SHIT, SON OF A-**

*CrazeStasis exe. Has stopped working...again. Rebooting.*

 **...mmmmm...Hi?**

 **Okay, for those of you who have been waiting for me to finally get this chapter out to the public, I am** _ **really**_ **sorry this took longer than what I thought. I had gotten to work writing it up when I had finally made it to Spring Break for my College year, and was probably halfway through it when it ended. Then, well...the last month of my college year got INCREDIBLY busy, and it was all I could focus on for most of the month alongside work. So as a result, I didn't start to work on this again until my college classes finally finished, hence why it's getting released now.**

 **For those that have had the patience for the last three months, thank you for waiting. I'm really sorry, and I hope that you really enjoy this chapter. With that being said now...YYYEEEESSSS! WE'VE GOT THE SANAGEYAMA FIGHT GOING ON NOW!**

 **So, let me start with what I thought was a little weak here. Again, I'm a little worried about some of the dialogue here and there, especially in the beginning. I'm really hoping that I didn't move everything at a faster pace than usual. And as always, I'm hoping that most of the characterizations for everyone is still spot on. I did try to reintroduce the friendlier, more compassionate side of Ruby here after all of the chaos that was the last story arc, but even then I feel nervous about how well that goes.**

 **But MAN, WAS THAT A MEATY CHAPTER! Okay, so first, Ruby and Ryuko are trying to regain some energy after all of the crazy stuff that happened beforehand. Kazuya Ichiro is kicked out of school, and free to do whatever he damn well pleases. Everything seems to be settling down (or at least, whatever amounts to "settling down" in Honnoji Academy), and Ryuko and Ruby have decided to start training together. Everything seems hunky-dory right...right?**

 **I can already see some of you calling bullshit, I just know.**

 **So yep, Sanageyama's gotten a shot at smacking around Ryuko for a bit. Most will likely ask "Where's the meeting between Sanageyama and Satsuki?" That I've decided to hold off until the next chapter, but everything else is fair game...and WHAT A FAIR GAME IT WAS! YEAH!**

 **I tried to expand the Ryuko VS Sanageyama fight significantly than from how it goes in the anime, and I feel that I did that and** _ **then some**_ **. I wanted to show Sanageyama a lot more as the threat he is, which I feel I did a tremendous job at portraying. Plus I wanted to show the fight as more of a struggle for Ryuko than the anime really did. True, she** _ **did**_ **struggle in the anime, but it just didn't feel as tough in the first bout as it does in the second one later in that episode.**

 **It's really meant to show how much of a threat Sanageyama (as well as the rest of the Elite Four) is in comparison to the rest of the Honnoji fodder that crosses our main characters path's. And-if you've watched Kill la Kill-then you'll likely know just how much more dangerous he gets after this story arc is finished...does this mean he'll actually be a challenge for Ruby? Hmmm…**

 **Speaking of Ruby. Yes, I did just put her into the same room as the rest of the Elite Four. I kinda wanted to introduce a fair bit of humor between them, even if most of the EF's interactions are similar to those in the anime. For this part, I feel I did a good enough job, particularly when setting up the part where Ruby spots the one major problem with Sanageyama's Tengantsu in comparison to the others.**

 **Really, the only part where I feel I truly failed was with Mako here. Granted, she's barely featured in the episode this chapter follows as is, but I do feel that she's not really added in well in comparison to previous chapters. Even the previous story arc had a good idea with her by contrast, and she doesn't even appear for the rest of it after her little "accident." I know that this chapter is stuffed to begin with, but I still feel I could've done more with here regardless.**

 **Now, for the one thing I've been wanting to mention...A RYUKO-CENTRIC CHAPTER! Yes, I've been wanting to make a Ryuko centric chapter-hell, a Ryuko centric story arc-for the last few chapters. The last story arc I feel pushed her fight with Tsumugu aside in favor of the conflict with Kazuya, so I felt that I should fix that and finally give a part where Ryuko is the center of the story instead of Ruby. Hopefully, I'll be able to balance the two on the "who's the main heroine for this arc" scale after this.**

 **Overall, a really good chapter I feel. Not a perfect chapter, granted, but then again...nothing is rarely perfect.**

 **So, with all of that discussed, I'm gonna move on to what's been happening to me in the last few months. For starters, I'm out of college until near the end of August, so I'm hoping to get back to work for the rest of the story. I'm hoping to keep with that "one or more a month" thing like I tried to do beforehand, but honestly, I'd stay wary folks. Beyond that, Me and my family have also been planning on going on vacation in the middle of August before I head back to college (no, that won't get in the way of writing...hopefully).**

 **As for what else has been happening, I've gotten myself a new computer (the last one was honestly coughing up it's motherboard as far as I'm concerned). I should be getting back to gaming in my free time without any real technical problems, which makes me happy. Plus I feel that writing will go around much more smoother with it too.**

 **As for my own original work...I don't really know. I feel like restarting it and trying again, or maybe trying my hand at another story idea I have. Again, I don't know, I'll have to think about it until then. I'm also wondering if I should start a series online discussing my experiences with various video games...again, some food for thought for now.**

 **And finally, I've been thinking...I've** _ **really**_ **been wanting to play a tabletop RPG (Dungeons & Dragons, Call of Cthulhu, etc.) for awhile now. It's just that I don't really have anybody to play with, beyond a few people nearby that I've never really met before. So I've been thinking about if anybody would want to play a game of D&D at all. If anyone's really interested in that idea, then just send me a private message and I'll talk to you about it (that said, it would be nice if someone could be the DM/GM in this case. I'm technically a total newb at D&D, and the idea of running a game scares the hell out of me considerably).**

 **Ah, so with all that done, I do believe I'm finished for the day. Before I do go, however, I would like to send out a thank you to** **sentinall prime** **for reading through the story and proofreading the chapters, as well as checking up to see if I'm still around. He done an awesome job and I do believe that he deserves a round of applause for his work. As for his proofreading, I'm going to make an effort to make some corrections to the previous chapters based on the suggestions he's made regarding them. Again, thank you!**

 **Now, you probably know the drill by now. REVIEW, and if you've loved the story so far, then feel free to favorite and follow if you want to. As always, you don't** _ **have**_ **to, but it's always appreciated.**

 **Now...what was the title tease for this time. I can't seem to rememb...wait? Do you hear that...is that...my patron of metal...MY PATRON OF METAL! THE GOD HIMSELF!? AHHHHHHHHH-** *CrazeStasis exe. Has stopped working...for the hundredth time. Goddammit…*

 **Chapter 10: I'll be there where fire makes you dance, I'm gonna give you the look that opens up THE SKIES! I'VE GOT EVIL EYES-EVIL EYES-EVIL EYES-EVIL EYEES!**

*-Rebooting.*

 **For Fun, Fedora's, and Insanity-Peace!**

 **-CrazeStasis**


End file.
